


Unexpected Light

by Bellagv



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellagv/pseuds/Bellagv
Summary: Everyone’s stress levels are high during their O.W.L.’s year, but it’s especially overbearing for one platinum blonde devil and his best friend turned enemy, Cordelia Maxime, both coming from wealthy pureblood families with secrets to hide. Follow along with them through never ending arguments, frustrating declarations of hatred, hopeful hookups, familial foes, and thoughtful failing-outs. Perhaps they are much more alike than they thought to be true, or maybe, just maybe, they’re even more different than they started out.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy and original female character





	1. Prologue

Draco:

I first saw Cordelia Maxime when I was 13. 

It was the first night of my 3rd year and I was anxiously awaiting for Dumbledore to stop babbling on about whatever he was, as I noticed something odd out of the corner of my eye. 

She was standing with the rest of the tawny first years, waiting in line to be sorted. She was much taller than them by at least 6 inches, which had set off about 30 different alarms in my head as I heard the rest of my housemates begin to murmur behind their cupped hands. 

She had dark hair so dark that it almost looked black, although it was obviously just a deep shade of brown, rosy cheeks complete with high cheekbones, raging blue eyes, perfectly bowed eyebrows, and a rather unique freckle on her upper lip. 

Not a person in the whole room couldn't say that she was a vision. And that theory was confirmed when I heard Pansy groan from next to me, rolling her eyes and mumbling something about 'I've seen better'. I snorted and went back to intimidating the fresh batch of first years with my cold glare.

To my surprise, the tall dark haired girl turned to meet my gaze at that exact moment. She looked almost afraid and for half of a second, I felt sorry for her. But, then McGonagall called a name, making the girl's eyes immediately flash in her direction, and I realized that she had been next in line for the sorting.

"Cordelia Maxime." McGonagall said, beckoning her along with the her free hand that wasn't holding the long scroll containing the names of all of the new students. The girl did as she was told hesitantly, eyeing the sorting hat with such distaste, that I almost laughed. 

What a familiar name. I couldn't quite place where I knew it from, though. Perhaps, she was the sibling of someone I knew or maybe her family did business with mine; I wasn't entirely sure. But, I felt like it was on the tip of my tongue.

I looked back to the the girl sitting on the stool and just as the sorting hat barely brushed the top of her hair, it bellowed an enthusiastic, "Slytherin!".

Just like it had done to mine, exactly three years ago. 

My table erupted into a slew of cheers, clapping and whistling as the girl stood from the stool. I also noticed how whispers rang through the crowd, but this time no one bothered to hide it. They were all wondering the exact same things that I was; Who was she, where had she come from and how old was she?

I felt my eyes grow wide as I saw the utter horror on the girls face. Her own eyes glazed over the crowd until they fell on mine and she practically looked at me pleadingly. 

My lips fought the smile tugging at them as her expression changed to something akin to realization and she quickly looked down, then over to the Gryffindor table and she smiled, waving at someone intently, her previous disgust long forgotten.

A Slytherin fraternizing with a Gryffindor, how odd. Can't say that this girl, Cordelia was it, had made the best first impression. Did she not know what being a Slytherin meant?

Then, she reluctantly made her way over to our table, confidence growing in her strides as she got closer. She stopped abruptly in front of Daphne Greengrass, and slid in next to her, smiling widely, the small freckle disappearing as her lips curled upwards.

A wave of what seemed to smell strongly of roses and vanilla washed over me, as the girl settled into her seat, only about 10 feet from where I sat with Pansy, who was blatantly staring at her, and Blaise who was walking around the table to introduce himself. 

She turned to where I was sitting not long after, the same smile still plastered onto her features. 

As she nodded towards me, this time I couldn't win the fight with the smirk growing on my lips, and I ate my words about her bad first impression. 

Cordelia:

I was 13 when I met Draco Malfoy for the first time. 

I was filing into the Great Hall behind my only friend in the Slytherin house Daphne Greengrass, like everyone else on the first Saturday of the school year during our 3rd year, which also happened to be my first year at Hogwarts. 

The slow shuffle we were able to keep up as the crowd slowly disipated into the room allowed us to take in all of the low murmurs being shot our way, as I was new, the only transfer into the 3rd year. Daphne told me that all of the attention would die down within the first few days, but so far it had been almost a week, and still everyone looked at me either like I was a shiny new toy or some sort of criminal. 

And well to my father, I was a criminal. I had been sorted into the Slytherin house, instead of his own house during his time here at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, which was what he had of course expected of me. It was oddly comforting to me that my time here at Hogwarts would be spent just like my time at my prep school back home, working my arse off to get high marks in order to please my Dad. 

Dad hadn't sent me a letter all week, unlike my Mum who had sent me several including two care packages. In situations like this, I found the outcome to be better if dad responded with silence rather than one of his repetitive mundane lectures on my legendary wasted potential, so at least that was looking to be less of a pain than I had orginally assumed it would be. 

Daphne pulled me by my arm to our house's table on the far left side of the room, breaking me from my spiraling train of thought. 

"C'mon, it's this way Core." she said as an excited smirk pulled across her lips, nodding her head to the left. She had been trying to get me to socialize with the other Slytherin students in our year, many of which she was good friends with. She framed it as 'branching out' to make it seem more appealing I'm sure, but I was still nervous nonetheless. 

I had already met and was friendly with Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, and Millicent Bulstrode, all of which I was sharing a dorm with. Pansy was a bit of a gossiper, who didn't seem to be able to be silent for more than 30 seconds, but I liked her, she was welcoming and had a sense of humor that I could use with all of the stress I had right now. Millicent and Tracey both didn't talk much and were a bit more independent than the others, so I knew very little about them. 

I had sat next to the boys in our year with Daphne at every meal so far, but I still knew little to nothing about any of them except for Blaise Zabini. He was very nice and from what I could tell, the mother of the friend group. He had made a point of introducing himself to me on my first day at Hogwarts, right after the way too public sorting. So, I had decided that today, I would engage in one of the many converstaions Blaise politely tried to strike up with me on a daily basis. 

As we sat down, I noticed that Blaise wasn't the one sitting on the side of me that Daphne wasn't occupying. Instead, it was the strangely pale platinum blonde with the sparkling silver eyes that I locked eyes with during the sorting that first night. He was one of the only people, the 5 to which I was eternally grateful to, who had not been staring at me with sour expressions. 

I also noticed that his left arm was encompassed in a white sling, making me remember the incident he had had with a Hypogriff in Care of Magical Creatures on the first day of classes. 

My friends Ron, Harry and Hermoine who I had met on the train platform that morning, and spent the ride to Hogwarts with, had accounted for three out of the five, Daphne was the 4th, and the mysterious blond was the 5th. 

Daphne gestured towards the blonde as she got settled on the hard wooden bench, and then to me, snagging the boys attention. His expression was pure boredom, that is until his eyes met mine. 

"Malfoy, this is Cordelia. She's the transfer from Beauxbatons I was telling you about." she said as her gaze then turned to me. "Core, this is Malfoy, the biggest git I've ever met." 

I snickered at her comment, still holding her gaze. 

Honestly, I was kind of afraid to see what the boy's reaction was, who I now knew was called 'Malfoy'. His last name, I assumed as most of the time that's what our table mates referred to each other as. 

A throat cleared behind me and I slowly turned to look at it's owner, Malfoy. His expression was now one of pure curiosity as he raised a blonde eyebrow and stuck out his pale hand.

"I'm Malfoy." he said, now smirking smugly as I hesitantly shook his one good hand. "Draco Malfoy." 

"Hello, I'm-" 

"Cordelia. I heard." 

"Yes. It's nice to meet you." I said slowly, still shaking his ridiculously cold hand. 

"What's your last name? Maybe I know of your family." He asked smugly, taking his hand out of my grip. 

"Maxime, it's Maxime." I breathed, looking to Daphne for help, who just smiled brightly, proud of her latest accomplishment, and shrugged. I sighed and scanned the table, looking for the only other familiar faces, Pansy and Zabini. 

"Interesting. Maxime, I like that." 

"Thanks?" 

"Well, nice to meet you, Maxime." he smiled, the kind that met his eyes; It was infectious. I found myself returning the gesture and looked down at my plate. 

Daphne kicked my leg under the table hard, making me yelp in surprise. I could practically feel the heaving of Malfoy's shoulders next to me as he broke out into a laughing fit. 

"Haha, Daph." I said tersely, as I felt my cheeks redden. 

"What's so funny, Malfoy." Pansy pouted from across the table. He stopped laughing abruptly, Pansy shooting daggers at him as she waited. 

"Nothing, just Daphne being an arse to Maxime." he said, pointing to me. 

"Oh." Pansy said, looking oddly disappointed at the dry explanation. 

"Greengrass, stop pushing her, you're making it worse." Zabini cut in, from next to Pansy. He was buttering a piece of toast as he shot me an apologetic smile, which I returned quickly.

"Shut up, Zabini." 

He just rolled his eyes and continued on with his toast. I noticed a gaunt looking boy next to him with brown hair and brown eyes, surveying the rest of the Hall carefully. 

"Who's that?" I asked, leaning into Malfoy slightly. 

"That's Nott." he said blankly. 

I pointed towards the two heafty boys sitting on the other side of Pansy, practically shoveling the mounds of food piled onto their plates, into their mouthes at an alarming speed. "And that's Crabbe and Goyle?" 

"Yes, unfortunately." he smirked, taking a sip of orange juice from the glass to his right.

I nodded and grabbed a muffin off of the platter in front of me. 

"Good job." Daphne whispered into my ear as she bumped my shoulder with hers. I shot her a quick glare and continued on with my muffin. 

Draco:

I was 13 when I realized that Cordelia Maxime cared about me. 

I was walking back to the Dungeons from Quidditch practice one Friday afternoon in early October during my 3rd year, trying to figure out for the life of me what to report back to father about Potter that wasn't exactly the same as last time, absolutely nothing other than the usual; Go to classes, eat, sleep, and repeat. 

Then, I heard a familiar laugh coming from the top of the staircase, one that belonged to my new housemate and friend, Cordelia Maxime. I turned around to see what or who exactly was the source of her laugh, only to see Granger and Potter turn on their heels before they strode back down the corridor deep in conversation just like always, leaving Maxime standing by herself on the first step. 

I hated that she was friends with bloody Potter, that mudblood Granger with the unruly hair, and Weasel-Bee. It seemed like all everyone could talk about was the notorious 'Golden Trio', even father, and I was sick and tired of it. Could I at least have my friends and housemates to myself?

As Maxime descended the steps carefully, her arms full of books, she locked eyes with me and waved. I returned the gesture, while I waited for her to catch up with me. 

"Maxime," I greeted her. 

"Hey, Malfoy." she said, struggling to keep the books she was carrying from falling down the steps in front of us. I quickly grabbed them from her arms and continued down the steps with her in tow. 

"Thanks." 

" You could just levitate these, you know?" I offered.

"Yes, I know." she said furrowing her brows as she caught up with me. I chuckled, of course she wouldn't just levitate the damn things and make it easier for herself and for me. 

Besides the fact that she didn't like to use magic for anything that didn't require it, inlcuding the tedious and bothersome task of carrying an entire family of books manualy, she never liked to make things easier for herself, whether they involved magic or not. This much was obvious about her. 

"How was Quidditch practice?" she asked, seeming to actually be interested. It was nice to be around someone so genuine for a change. 

"It was fine, the same as always." 

"Oh. Will Crabbe and Goyle be along soon?" 

She had taken a liking to the two gits in the past few weeks, which I assumed was due to their easy demeanor, the opposite of Blaise, Pany and Daphne's, who she spent way too much time with if you ask me. Most of the time honestly, they sort of blended into the background, so when she started to get to know each of them it seemed to shock all of us, even Nott. 

He spent the least amount of time with her out of all us and still, his jaw was on the table just like the rest of us. I actually found it to be pretty ballsy, which was the perfect word to describe Cordelia Maxime. She was always so driven and ambitious, that she never seemed to realize just how extraordinary she really was, too caught up in pushing herself even more. She was the type of person that my father always wanted me to be, I guess that might be why I was so humbled by her. There's also the fact that she was new, she wasn't one of the stubborn pricks all of us had spent 3 years with already who we were completely sick of.

"Yeah, they're just changing back into their robes." I replied, staring blankly at the hall in front of us. "You have fun with Granger in the library?" 

She flinched as I said the mudblood's name, all too aware of my disgust with her and her kind. She was ballsy to associate with that mudblood and her rag tag group of friends, especially since she was a Slytherin after all. 

"Yeah, and Harry." 

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood, otherwise I wouldn't have let Potter leave here without a good insult." I scoffed. She rolled her eyes as we approached the painting of the mermaid, opening her hands for her books. 

"Draco?" she asked, almost too quietly as I placed them right back into her frail looking arms.

"Yes."

"Please don't make me choose." she muttered, her gaze dropping to her shoes. "I told Harry to stay away from you, if that helps." 

Make her choose? What?

"Excuse me?" I huffed, a bit peeved by the mention of my enemy, the boy who never seemed to keep to himself for long enough to stop being the talk of the damn town. 

"I like being friends with both of you. Please don't ask me to choose between being friends with either of you." she pleaded, looking up at me from where I towered down over her, standing at my full height. 

Honestly, at this point all I wanted was a few mintues without having to hear or even think about Potter. Although I disapproved of her unnatural friendship, it was her business and I would much rather she kept it that way. 

"I'll tell you what, Maxime, if you stop talking to me about Potter, then I won't interefere with your little friendship, yeah?" I said rather teresly.

I could tell that she was surprised by my semi-civil offer, but she immediately put her usual mask back on, her lips curling into a smirk. 

"Well, good, because I don't want to loose either of my friends. And besides, if you had asked me to choose, I would have kicked your sorry arse for being such an aloof prick." she said proudly, tilting her chin up in defiance as she punched my arm with her small fist. 

"I'd like to see you try." I said smugly. She laughed, a large grin on her face as if she felt relieved, and I joined her, smiling as we stood there having a laughing fit together. 

Cordelia:

I was 14 when I realized that Draco Malfoy cared about me. 

It was a rainy Sunday during mid Novemeber during my 4th year at Hogwarts, and we were all sitting casually at our house's table trying to enjoy our breakfasts, but failing miserably due to all of the extra whispering and hushed murmurs going around about the first task of the upcoming Triwizards Tournament. 

The ceiling of the Great Hall was enchanted to look like a beautiful night sky littered with glowing constellations, thousands of lit candles levitating in the air just under it. I would never be able to express just how magical this sight always was to me, even after my first few weeks at Hogwarts. Draco and Pansy teased me about it frequently, as they called my amazement "gawking up at the ceiling for no good reason", but I didn't care. They were Draco and Pansy afterall, they were just giving me shit. 

"Well, I for one think that Diggory is the best pick. Anyone's better than Potter." Draco huffed, as he cut into his french toast. I rolled my eyes at his cruel words about Harry, it wasn't like I could do anything about their rivalry- I had tried on both ends with little to no success. 

"Ugh, I can't stand Potter. Would he just give it a rest with all of the conspiracy theories already." Pansy barked, the dark purple crecents under her eyes increasingly obvious in the light of the Hall. 

I knew on good authority that Pansy had not come back to the dorm last night, and when she arrived back in the morning only a few minutes before the rest of us left for Breakfast, she was still wearing the same jeans and blouse that she was wearing the day before. Pansy always- and I meant always- slept in matching silk pajama sets, which made me think that perhaps she had been out all night, presumably getting no sleep. 

If you think I'm a pain when I'm sleep deprived, then Pansy's the queen of sleep deprivated bitchiness. 

"Exactly." Draco nodded smugly. I shot him a quick glare to which he just shrugged at innocently and went back to his food. 

"I was gonna support Diggory either way." Nott said, rubbing the sleep out of his brown eyes. "The kid's got balls." 

"I think he's kind of nice, quiet, but nice." Daphine chimmed in, stirring her porridge around in the bowl in front of her with her spoon aimlessly. 

Blaise bumped Draco's shoulder, smirking at me from across the table. "You know who's getting awfully close to Diggory?" He shot me a quick glance, cleared his throat dramatically and continued with everyone in hearing distance's eyes trained on him and Malfoy. "Maxime."

I felt the blood instantly rush to my cheeks at the mention of Cedric's name as everyone's attention suddenly turned towards me. 

Great, just motherfucking great. 

They were right. I had become quite close with Ced. 

We had Transfigurations with the Hufflepuffs and professor McGonagall had decided to make me and Cedric partners permanently, after I had showed up late to class after helping Snape clean up the large mess that Goyle and Malfoy left at their station, and Cedric's partner had also seemed to be missing from class that day. I guess we worked together so well that even McGonagall was pleased. 

My daily study sessions with Herms in the library that Daph occasionally joined us for, started to include Cedric regularly. I had asked Hermione first before allowing him to join us, just to be sure, and when she happily agreed, quite suspiciously I might add, he hadn't halted our well practiced routine at all. 

I usally went to all of the Quidditch matches that Slytherin played and most of the ones that Gryffindoor played as well, to support Harry and Ron, and to spend more time with Herms. However, after Cedric asked me if I could go watch him play during Hufflepuff's first match of the season, it too became a regular thing for me to do in whatever free time I had. 

Eventually, it became so that whenever I wasn't with Hermoine, Harry and Ron or Draco, Daph, Blaise, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle and Pansy, then I was with Cedric. Hermione even had a "theory" that I was beginning to spend more time with Cedric than I was any of my other friends because I had a crush on him. I had just laughed in her face and brought up her own blossoming crush on Ron, making her face turn as red as a Weasley's hair, to distract from the confontation of my growing feelings for Ced.

I wasn't good with boys, I have never been good with boys. And besides, I didn't want to risk my friendship with him for some half-arsed forced relationship that Cedric only took part in because he was too nice to reject me. 

"Excuse me?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at Zabini as a chorus of "ohhhhhs" erupted from our friends. 

Draco broke into a fit of silent laughter, Daphne snickered holding her hand over her face to hide her growing smile-she knew about my feelings for Ced-, Crabbe and Goyle barely looked up from their breakfasts, Pansy's face lit up like it always did at the mention of any kind of drama or gossip, and Nott just raised an eyebrow, waiting for Zabini's reply.

"You heard me, Maxime." Blaise said evenly, a smug smiling tugging at his lips. 

"He's right, you have been spending a lot of time with Diggory." Pansy added, eyeing me. I scoffed at her, and stared down at the singular piece of toast on my plate. 

"Well, McGonagall did force me to sit next to him in Transfigurations if you all don't remeber, and he's actually pretty smart- we study together. That's all." I said, as my gaze flickered to the yellow Hufflepuff table, and a familiar pair of kind grey eyes met mine. 

I didn't need anyone to tell me that my cheeks were flushed again as I took in Cedric's appearance from across the room, his eyes still locked on mine, a smirk plastered across his face. 

Damn that stupid smile. 

"Oh really. Then please explain," Pansy said, gesturing to the rest of our group. "Why you're having a starring match with Diggory as we speak."

Heads turned to look towards the Hufflepuff table, just like I was. Almost everyone held their gaze, most likely searching for Ced, except for Malfoy. 

He turned back towards our own table almost immediately, a large mischievous grin on his face. He winked at me before I could protest, then prompty hit the back of Blaise's head, making him grunt out a "What the fuck, Malfoy" in response. 

Pansy still eyed me curiously, waiting for a response like usual. 

"We're friends Pansy, that's it." I muttered angrily. 

"I have to say that I'm impressed, Diggory's a catch. But I'm surprised that you didn't notice Ernie first, he is Cedric's friend you know. " she said, looking towards Blaise and Draco. "Isn't that breaking the bro-code?" 

Blaise and Malfoy both smiled, slapping each others shoulders before adressing Pansy. They were like Hogwarts' favourite pair of rambunctious frat boys, and proud of it. 

"You're right, it is." Zabini laughed.

"Damn it, Zabini. Aren't you supposed to be the nice one?" I sneered. 

"Hey!" he said holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm just pointing out the elephant in the room. Quite frankily, I aprrove."

"Shut up." 

"You're just gonna leave Macmillan hanging?" Malfoy drawled, running a hand through his platinum hair. 

"Who the hell even is this Ernie guy?" I muttered. 

"Are you serious? He's been staring at you everyday in Transfigurations since the beginning of last year. And, he's Cedric's best friend." Pansy said incredulously. 

"Huh?"

"You're really going to play dumb?" she snapped, rolling her eyes. .

"I'm not. I seriously have no clue who he is." I sighed. 

I really did have no idea who he is or why on earth he had been staring at me for so long. 

Pansy turned back towards the Hufflepuff table and pointed at a young looking boy with a mop of messy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and an oddly shaped button nose who happened to be seated directly next to Cedric. He also happened to be staring blankly at me, a small grin tugging at his lips as his eyes met mine. I looked away almost immediately. 

"What the hell." I mumbled.

"That kid creeps me out." Blaise declared as he turned back towards our table. 

Nott just shurgged and returned to his eggs without a word. 

"Thanks, Nott." I blurted, genuinely grateful for Nott's usual relaxed demeanor. 

He looked up from his plate and smiled slightly. 

"No problem, Cordelia." he said as he returned to his plate once again. 

You can always count on Nott to be a good friend and mind his own damn business when it's obvious that you don't want to talk about something, but that's not say that he wasn't there for me whenever I needed him. 

"You haven't noticed him staring?" Daphne asked, returning to the infuriating subject of the hot mess that was my love life. 

"No." I said dully. 

Malfoy snorted from his place across from me. 

"Poor kid. You don't even know his name." he jeered. 

Fuck this. 

And with that, I grabbed my bag off of the floor near my feet and stormed away from my annoying group of friends, who were all laughing loudly, except for Nott and Crabbe and Goyle who were still forcing even more food down their throats like always. 

I was almost to the door that let out into the corridor outside of the Great Hall, when a hand wrapped around my wrist. I had expected it to be Daphne, or one of my Gryffindor friends, or maybe just maybe Malfoy, so I just stopped in my wake and told them off.

"Leave me alone, I'm going back to the common room." I snapped. The hand still gripped my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

A throat cleared behind me and I turned around to see Ernie Macmillan standing only a half a foot away from me. 

"Hello, I'm Ernie. I saw you staring at me just a few minutes ago and I thought it would be rude of me to not introduce myself properly." he said smugly, as he held out his other hand for me to shake. 

"I know who you are. Can you please give me my arm back?" 

He released my arm from his grip and backed away slightly. 

"I don't know if you know this, but we have Transfigurations class together. You sit with my friend Cedric." he clarified.

"I know." I said, not in the mood for small talk, especially with one out of the two objects of my humiliation. 

"Good. Well, look I was wondering if you would be my date for the Yule Ball. I know its a few months away, but-" he said looking down at his shoes nervously as I cut him off. 

"No thank you." 

"But, I don't think you have a date and I'm as good as any." he said with his nose held high in the air. "In fact, I know for a fact that you don't have a date." 

What the actual fuck? Zabini was right, Ernie is creepy. How would he know whether or not I have a date for the Yule Ball? 

I wanted to get away from him and this awful conversation as soon as humanely possible, so I said the only thing that I thought would shut him up and make him leave me alone. Maybe even keep him from starring at me so much. 

"You're wrong. I do have a date, and it's not you." I smiled condescendingly. Who the hell was he to think that I would ever go out with him? I don't even know him. I didn't even know he exsisted until not even five minutes ago. . . 

"Oh really?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. 

Was he insinuating what I think he was? Did he not think I was capable of getting a date for the Ball already?

I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away, just as he grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back towards him, turning me to face into the Great Hall just as I had a moment ago. 

"What the hell." I yelled. "Get your hand off of me now, Macmillan." 

Again, he did the opposite of what I asked him to.

"Cordelia, I know you don't have a date. I saw the way you were staring at me earlier, let's face it you like me." he smiled. 

Oh god. He must have thought that I was starring at him when I was staring at Cedric. 

"I wasn't staring at you." 

"Yes you were." he laughed. 

"No, I wasn't." I drawled. 

"Then who were you starring at?" he asked, his hand still on my shoulder, gripping it tightly, ready to combat my next move to flee. 

Just then, I saw a flash of platinum hair and smelled the familar waft of colonge that usally attacked my nostrils, but this time I was grateful for it.

Malfoy stepped in front of me, blocking me from Ernie, and extended an arm behind him, wrapping it around my waist to keep me there. I let out a long sigh, glad that he was here to protect me- not that I needed anyone to protect me, but still. 

"Macmillan. I do believe she told you to take your hands off of her, mate." Malfoy snapped. 

The color drained out of Ernies face as he swallowed and tilted his head to see me behind Draco's tall figure. 

"Is he why you won't let me be your date to the Ball?" Ernie asked, still not taking the damn hint. Malfoy snorted and shot me an amused smirk. 

"What? No." 

"Just because you're a Slytherin doesn't mean that we can't be together. Besides, you're friends with Harry, so I know that you don't really believe in that rivalry crap." said Ernie, much faster than he needed to, his voice faltering as he said Potter's name.

The nerve this kid has. . . 

"Did you just insult my house?" I hissed as Malfoys arm around my waist tightened. 

"No, I-" 

"Save it, Macmillan. She doesn't want to go out with you. Go crawl back into the cave you unfortunately came out of, and leave her alone." Malfoy growled, towering over Ernie. 

Ernie laughed and shook his head smugly. 

"Is he your supposed date? I would hope that you wouldn't stoop to Malfoy standards. Honestly Cordelia, I thought you were better." he chuckled. 

"What the actual fuck." I laughed from behind Malfoy. Now he was just provoking him. 

Malfoy chuckled sarcastically then turned around and shot me a confused look. I just shrugged to tell him that I didn't know why Macmillan thought that.

"If that's what she told you, then yes. Now, get out of here before I break your damn nose, Macmillan." Malfoy scoffed, shooting daggers at Macmillan where he stood, seeming to shrink with every word that Malfoy spoke. 

"She can speak for herself, Malfoy." 

"Take the damn hint, I already said no repeatedly and you didn't listen." 

"I will not let you bully her into rejecting me." Macmillan said as he turned towards Malfoy scowling. 

"She said no, move on." 

I could see that a crowd had gathered around us, blocking the exit out of the Great Hall. Blaise and Nott were circling the crowd trying to find a way in, with Daph and Pansy trailing behind them. Nott whispered something in a Ravenclaw's ear, who then moved to create a small path into the crowd. Blaise and Nott raced through the crowd towards us and immediately came to stand on either side of Malfoy, creating a wall between me and Ernie.

"Mate, we were being nice by letting you talk to her, now you have and she said no. If you don't leave us alone, it's going to get ugly. I can guarantee you that the entire Slytherin house would come to bat for her, so don't push it." Zabini quipped, squaring his shoulders. 

Nott was gripping his wand in his left hand so tightly that his knuckles were turning white, aiming it at Macmillan intentionally. 

I tugged on Malfoy's robes nervously, to which he turned around and came to stand beside me, throwing an arm around my shoulder. He nodded at Blaise and Nott who both returtned the gesture, and ushered me out of the center of the crowd. 

I took note of how the growing crowd seemed to part like the Red Sea for us as we exited the Great Hall. 

Once we were in the corridor, I rested my head on Malfoy's shoulder, feeling his shoulders heave as his breathing slowed. 

"Thanks, Draco." I smiled. 

"If he ever goes near you again, I swear I'll kill him." he growled, resting his head on mine as we walked towards the Potions classroom. 

"I'll help."

Draco:

I was 14 when Cordelia Maxime first complimented me: 

It was the day of the Yule Ball, and I was in the common room sitting intently on the couch directly in front of the fireplace, with a book open on my lap. The common room was almost completely empty except for me and a few first years who were packing up to leave. I hadn't had the room to myself for what seemed like months, so I was really grateful for the peaceful silence that washed over me. 

That is, until Cordelia Maxime burst through the door to the common room holding a large fancy looking shopping bag in her small hand, almost completely out of breath. She set the bag down by her feet promptly, and placed her hands on her knees, desperately trying to catch her breath. I noticed that her face was completely red as she heaved, making me chuckle. 

She immediately looked up from the ground and her eyes met mine. She looked almost happy. 

"Did you run a marathon or something, Maxime?" I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes and skipped over to the edge of the couch I was sitting on, then went to perch on the arm rest beside me. 

"No, Malfoy!" she chirped, staring into the fireplace, grinning ear to ear. 

"Well, why the hell are you so out of breath then? Did you have a quickie with Potter in one of the lavatories or something?" I smirked, hoping to annoy the shit out of her so she would just tell me the real reason behind her odd behavior sooner rather than later; I didn't have all day to sit here and listen to her ramble on like Pansy does. That and I'd take any chance to insult Potter.

"Ew, gross! You're disgusting." she shrieked, making me howl with laughter. Then, she reached across the length of the couch and shoved me, barely doing any damage. But I could tell she was trying her hardest, which only made me laugh harder. 

"Well, what is it then?" I asked, still slightly laughing at her reaction to my last question. 

As she turned back to face the fireplace, the amber embers lit up her skin, almost making her glow. Her gray eyes were so focused on the growing fire, that she barely noticed when I snapped my fingers to speed up the process. 

And then it hit me, the obvious rushing around with a shopping bag in hand, and the Ball. 

Cedric had asked her to be his date for the Ball rather publicly a few weeks ago. I had heard her, Daphne and Pansy chatting constantly about it for the entire weekend after it happened. Mostly Daphne expressing her happiness for Cordelia and Pansy grilling her for the gory details. 

Blaise and Nott seemed to be happy for her, and Crabbe and Goyle although they usally wouldn't have really cared, felt oddly protective of her, since she was closer with them than the rest of us who had known them for much longer. 

I, however did not support it. Diggory had something off about him, and the fact that all of the girls in this school were falling at his feet made me even angrier. 

Damn the stupid Triwizard's for making him look like even more of a hero. 

"You were getting a dress for the Ball weren't you?" 

"Yeah, I was. I went with Hermione, and Cho to Hogsmeade. We all needed dresses at the last minute." she proclaimed, all too proud of her most recent outing. 

I found it rather odd that she was still friends with Cho Chang after Cedric had practically proclaimed his love for her in the middle of the Great Hall when he asked her to the Ball, right in front of Cho. 

Cho's little crush on Cedric was just about as obvious as Cordelia's; Although Cordelia's was only obvious based on how much time she spent with that hotheaded git, which made it slightly less nauseating, but only slightly. 

"You do know that Chang has a crush on Diggory, don't you?" I interjected, watching the color slowly drain from her face. I couldn't tell if it was out of fear or embarrassment, but she sure did seem caught off gaurd, and lord help me, guilty. 

So, then she did know. . . And she was still going with Diggory. Good for her. I wasn't one for all of that girly who likes who girl code shit, but I did have to say that I was proud of her for not caring about what people thought or rather felt about it, especially if it pissed off a Ravenclaw and potentially her Gryffindor friends. And that twat Macmillan, serves him right. 

"What?" she asked, now turning to face me with a confused expression plastered on her delicate features. She pressed her lips into a line, making the freckle on her upper lip completely disappear. 

"Bullshit. It's obvious that Cho likes Diggory." I drawled, not caring about Cordelia's precious "I don't care about house rivalry" reputation at the moment. She was a Slytherin, and for the most part she was just as much of one as the rest of us-why shouldn't she be able to be herself in the confines of her own common room? 

Sometimes I got the feeling that she didn't like being a Slytherin. Sure she was ambitious as hell, if she had a goal then she would stop at nothing to achieve it, which did wonders for her school work, she always knew exactly what she wanted, and she took care of her friends, she was fierce when it came to protecting us, not that she really needed to. I saw nothing wrong with any of those attirubutes, so again why should she? 

Because of Potter and his fucked up hatred for everything Slytherin. I cannot believe any of us ever thought he was the heir of Slytherin; What a ridiculous thought. 

Well that and her father, the infamous Gryffindor that my father had his very own fued with during his time at Hogwarts. I knew he was hard on her, but would he really punish her for being sorted into the "wrong" house? It was out of her control, she'd made her request to the sorting hat and it had ignored her. Nothing she could have done about it. 

But, even though I would never admit this, I was sort of glad that she had been sorted into Slytherin, I had gained a friend from it who understood on some level what it was like to have a dad that you could never seem to please. 

"Okay, fine. Cho's my friend, but Cedric chose me and I shouldn't have to say no to him just because she's trying to prove her status as a hopeless romantic." she snapped, suddenly glaring at me. "Stop killing my buzz, Malfoy." 

And there it was. The Cordelia I knew and actually enjoyed the company of. The girl with her mind set on one thing, without a care in the world about who got butthurt over it.

"I'm not. I'm just saying-" I said with my hands up in surrender as she continued to glare down at me from her perch on the arm rest, before she promptly cut me off. 

"I don't care. I'm not going to let your sour mood ruin my day." she stated, twirling a lock of her chestnut brown hair around her index finger. 

"But c'mon, Diggory? Seriously? Why him?" I demanded, honestly interested in why the hell she would ever stoop to his level, he was just so...full of himself, and all of the girls may fall for that nice guy act, but us guys saw right through it. 

"Who else do you suppose I go with then?" she murmured angrily. 

"I don't know. You could've gone with Zabini, Theo-" I said frustrated by her stubbornness, when I heard footsteps coming from the stairs above us.

I rolled my eyes and fixed my gaze back on the fire as Pucey walked down the steps from the boys dormitories. I gave him a curt nod, which he returned. He shot one at Cordelia, who smiled and went back to staring directly into the fire, too. 

"Malfoy, Maxime." Pucey greeted us, inching closer to the couch we were seated on. "You sure you still have a date for tonight, Maxime? Tracey Davis canceled on me out of the blue."

Cordelia chuckled and twisted her head to face Pucey. "Oh what happened? Did she ditch you for a Durmstrang boy? I would have, too." 

Ouch. Who woke up the bitch? Well, I guess I did, sort of. . . 

"Fuck off, Maxime. You better go get ready, Diggory'd probably wet his pants if you were late, yeah?" Pucey shot back, making me and Cordelia launch into a silent fit of laughter. 

"I have to admit Maxime, I love the way you think." I choked out as our laughter started to die down. 

"I have to admit Malfoy, you really do bring out the worst in me, and I have to say it is fun." 

"The feeling's entirely mutal, Maxime." I shot her a small smile, and then winked at Pucey, causing his cheeks to redden before he turned to scowl at both of us. 

Pucey rolled his eyes as he realized we were done playing nice and stalked out of the room defeated, his shoulders slumping, and his lips pulled into a frown. He looked like a sad little puppy in search of his unlucky owner. 

This only made Cordelia and I laugh harder. In fact, we laughed so hard, probably because of my lifted spirits after getting on Pucey's nerves, and Cordelia's evident excitement for tonight; That Cordelia and I both had tears welling up in the corners of our eyes, threatening to spill over at any minute, while I almost fell off of the couch absentmindedly, and she clutched her stomach trying to catch her breath yet again. 

Cordelia:

I was 14 and a half when I realized that Draco Malfoy was my best friend. 

It was the morning right after the Yule Ball during my 4th year at Hogwarts, and I had just woken up in the Hufflepuff boys dormitories lying next to a shirtless Cedric Diggory. A yellow Quidditch sweater was drapped over my figure, and the tight curls Pansy had helped me with last night were now loose waves spewed over the pillow my head was resting on. 

From what I could see in the slight break between the yellow drapes around Cedric's bed that engulfed us, the dormitories were completely empty except the two of us, meaning that it was probably late and everyone was already at breakfast. I silently cursed myself for letting myself fall asleep last night, instead of just going back to my dorm and. . . 

Crap! I completely forgot that Draco would be waiting for me in the common room. 

I hope he isn't mad at me, but if I told him what I was doing last night he would probably be proud of me, he would tease me about it constantly, but he would be proud of my teenage rebellion. 

Not to mention that Pansy was going to have a field day with this, even before the whole loosing my virginity to Cedric Diggory and spending the night in the Hufflepuff boys dormitories thing; That kiss at the Ball in front of everyone was definitely enough to have her through the roof. With this influx of information, I highly doubted that Pansy would stop talking about my love life for at least a full month, before she deemed it to be a stale subject finally, like she always does. Let's just hope that she never finds out. 

I peeled myself off of Cedrics chest, smiling at the sight of his chiseled face looking so utterly peaceful, a small boyish smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he slept. I was careful not to make any extra noise, so as to not wake him- the awkward morning after thing wasn't going to be my forte, this I knew for sure. 

As I threw back the drapes and saw my gray satin gown crumpled on the floor by Cedric's trunk, my heart sunk as I remembered that it was the only item of clothing I had, besides the yellow Hufflepuff Quidditch sweater I was wearing that surely belonged to Cedric. I sighed and threw off the sweater before pulling my gown up my thighs and zipping it swiftly, only to throw the sweater back on over it. I found my silver heels sitting on top of Cedrics trunk and slipped them onto my feet as I took one more look around the room to make sure that I hadn't left any evidence of my presence behind. The absolute last thing I needed right now was to get dention for sneaking into the boys dormitories of another house no less. 

I spotted my wand on the nightstand next to Ced's and grabbed it, tucking it into the waistline of my dress hurriedly. I needed to get out of here as soon as I could, especially before Ced woke up and spotted me. 

I closed the door behind me, bracing myself for it to creak as it finally shut all the way, but thankfully, it didn't. I made my way back to the door out to the common room, first making sure that both the hallway and the common room were empty before making any move to leave. 

They were both empty, it really must have been that late, and it was a Hogesmead weekend- everyone was probably out making the most of the last day of the weekend before classes went back into full swing on Monday. 

I groaned at the thought of going back to classes as I finally snaked through the Hufflepuff common room, to the door out into the corridor, sleepily dodging black patent leather arm chairs and couches as I went. 

In less than ten seconds I was pushing the common room door open and rushing out into the corridor, letting out a long breath I didn't know I had been holding in. 

***

I speed walked into the Great Hall wearing Cedric's Quidditch sweater, jeans and sneakers, glad that for the most part the tables seemed to be full, so I wasn't nearly as late as I thought I was going to be. 

I made a swift Beeline for the Slytherin table catching the gaze of Harry, Ron and Hermione who all smiled and waved from their places at the Gryffindor table. I nodded and smiled in their directions, mouthing "Talk to you later." as I continued walking. 

When I finally made it to the Slytherin table, I spotted Draco playfully punching Nott's shoulder as he spooned scrambled eggs onto his plate, a space open next to him. I liked to think that he was saving it for me, but who knows, it was Draco Malfoy after all. You never knew with that guy. 

I plunked down next to him, letting out a long sigh, before reaching for the toast animatedly, when I realzied that every single one of my friends was staring at me. 

"What?" I mumbled, all too aware of how shitty I must look. 

"Where the hell were you last night?" Pansy shrieked from her place directly across from me. 

"Um, I was up in the astronomy tower with Harry, Ron and Hermione." I shrugged, hoping the mention of my other friends, especially Harry "the boy who lived", would throw all of them off my scent. 

"You're wearing a Quidditch sweater? Since when do you like Quidditch?" Daph giggled, making me notice that she was on the other side of me, going to town on some pancakes. 

"Cedric joined us for a little while and I was cold so he gave me his sweater, but he had a match today, so he had to leave early." I said all too fast, eager to get this conversation over with. 

"Up in the astronomy tower?" Blaise inquired, now looking over at the Gryffindor table from where he sat, questioningly close to Pansy. 

"Yeah." I muttered, quickly buttering my toast and taking a bite.

"Slow down." Malfoy jeered, elbowing my ribs. And then it hit me. 

A sharp pain washed over me, hitting dully in my stomach, and making me realize that my legs and hips had been in searing hot pain for an unkown amount of time, almost knocking me off the bench we were all sitting on. I clutched my stomach, grunting at the discomfort I suddenly felt in way too many places, as a cold hand reached down to support my back, keeping me from falling backwards. 

I felt hot breath against the side of my face as Malfoy whispered, "Maxime? You look ill-" 

"I'm fine." I muttered, still clutching my stomach, praying for the pain to stop sometime soon. 

"No, you're not. You look like you're in a lot of pain." he shot back, now using two hands to hold me up. 

I was vaguely aware of the stares we were getting from the rest of our friends and Daphne's hand placed worriedly on my shoulder, scalding hot, compared to Malfoy's cold ones. 

I shuddered at the feeling of the two differing temperatures in addition to the pain, as I tried to stand. 

"Malfoy, I'm fine. Really." I said, waving him off as I came to stand at my full height, then almost shot back down to the bench with a thud as my sore legs got the worst of me. 

"No, you're not. You look like death. I'm taking you to Pomfrey." he drawled, unaware of the major embarrassment he was about to cause me. He slipped one arm under my neck and another under the crook of my knees and lifted me, then began to carry me away from the table. 

"Malfoy! Put me down now! I am not dying." I whisper yelled, squirming inside of his firm hold. 

"Oh really? Then why are you suddenly unable to walk?" he asked, raising a smug eyebrow, compltely ignoring my pleas to put me down. 

"Where are the hell you going?" Zabini shouted after us. Malfoy turned over his shoulder and shot him a dismissive glare. 

"I'm taking her to Pomfrey. She's sick."

With that he trained his glare back on me, raising his eyebrow at my secretism as if telling me to go ahead and answer his question. 

"I...I can't tell you, but-"

"Okay, then I'm taking you to Pomfrey." he said, as I saw one person in particular starting towards us, who seemed to be staring directly at me. 

"Crap." Cedric was about to get up from the Hufflepuff table, when I grabbed the collar of Molfoys shirt and hissed, "Get me out of here now.". 

He looked back at the Hufflepuff table follwing my not so subtle gaze and chuckled to himself, before pointing us towards the exit of the Great Hall.

"So we're avoiding Diggory now, are we?" 

"No, I just don't want to deal with that awkward conversation right now." 

"Oh, I see." he smirked as we rounded the corner of the hallway leading towards the infirmary. "Are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to ask Diggory myself?" 

"NO! Alright, I'll tell you. But on one condition." I breathed, looking up at him as we moved closer towards the end of the hall. 

"And that is?" he drawled, his interest only seeming to be slightly piqued. 

"You have to take this to the grave and I mean it, don't tell anyone. Even Zabini or Theo." 

If he tells anyone, I'm going to murder him.

"Deal. Now, what is this big secret I've been instructed to take to the grave with me?" he mused, the only sound in the hall, the tapping of his sneakers against the cold marble floor. 

"I-I had sex with Cedric last night and I had to sneak out of the Hufflepuff dorms this morning, it was terrible." I said, rushing each word, unsure if I would be able to get them all out before deciding against it. 

"Oh." he murmured, his face oddly blank, even mode so than usual, a blush tinting his pale cheeks. 

"Yeah," I said, looking down at my hands and I awkwardly picked at the skin around my fingernails. 

And then his face wavered and returned to his usual smirk, then he laughed almost nervously, to which I just rolled my eyes. "What does that have to do with you being in pain?" 

"Well, uh I only have a theory, but I um hadn't you know, until last night and I think that maybe that might be why." I muttered as quiet as possible, my voice faltering multiple times, refusing to look at him. 

"Oh." he drawled, nodding more to himself than to me.

He sure had a lot of "Oh"'s today, but I'm pretty sure it was just that kind of day. 

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Well, was he good?" 

"Are you out of your damn mind, Malfoy?" I cried, shaking my head at him. As if I would ever tell him that. 

"What?" he asked trying to sound as innocent as he possibly could. Draco Malfoy was many things, but innocent wasn't one of them. 

"You're no dumby Malfoy, you know I would never tell you that." 

"Then who would you tell?" he mused. 

"Well, probably Daph, Hermione maybe, Luke..." I cut myself off, realizing I had said the one thing that I couldn't ever say to Malfoy. 

I had talked about my past, my chilhood completely void of magic, living like a muggle with two wizards for parents, and my squib best friend, who happened to be one out of three friends I had grown up with who knew magic even existed. 

And to make matters worse, he was Adrian Pucey's cousin, who both Draco and I knew well. If he mentioned him to Pucey, well I didn't want to even think about how he would react. 

"Okay, maybe you're right."

"I'm always right. I just would like to know exactly what I happen to be right about this time?" he smirked lazily. 

"I guess if you weren't you, you would be the one I would tell." I admitted too tired to really care about what was coming out of my mouth anymore. He snorted, then rolled his eyes and kept on walking. 

Why did I care so much whether or not Malfoy knew about my past? Maybe it would be nice to finally not have to lie to all of my friends except Daphne, Ron, Harry and Hermione who all had completely different mind sets than Malfoy when it came to Muggles and basically anyone who wasn't a pureblood. . . 

Maybe the problem was that he would be the one I would want to tell, if he weren't such a prick, because he and I had become quite close. I guess one could say that Draco may even have been one of my best friends. And that was exactly why he could never know the truth. 

"Gee thanks." he said smugly, winking at me. 

"It wasn't a compliment." I mumbled. 

"Yes it was." he countered. 

Oh, was he a freaking mind reader too? I wouldn't doubt it; Anything was possible with magic, and me being a seer I knew just how true that was. 

"Shut up Dra-" I was cut off by one of Malfoy's cold hands pressing against my mouth. I licked it and he finally removed his hand from my face. I glared up at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What the hell was that for?" I demanded.

"Call me that more often." he smirked, again completely ignoring what I had said. 

"Huh?"

"Dray. Call me Dray." 

"Dray?" I asked, testing out the name. 

"No one ever call's me that."

"Okay, Drayyyyyy." I sang making him roll his eyes in annoyance.

"I really must know if the facilities in the Hufflepuff dorms are nicer than ours. I ought to get that checked out, you know since I'll be a prefect next year." he said, amused with his childish attempts to annoy me. 

"Can we please talk about something else?" I complained. "Anything else." 

"Fine. Where did those dance moves come from last night?" he teased, laughing a bit as his pace slowed. 

"So we were watching me, weren't we? How was your time with Pans last night? I do recall her stepping on your foot during the waltz..." 

"You didn't answer my question." he drawled coldly, obviously Pansy, who had a massive crush on him, was a sore subject. 

"If you must know, I used to be a ballet dancer."

"That makes so much sense," he said in a mock sweet voice, spinning us around a violent circle, puffing out his chest as if demonstrating his best pirouette. "Why didn't you ever tell any of us?" 

"You never asked. Besides, it was a lifetime ago." I shrugged. 

Draco would never know how true those words really were, and just how painful the subject of my past life was for me. Or so I thought. . . 

Cordelia:

I was almost 15 when I decided that I hate Draco Malfoy. 

It was only about a month after the Yule Ball, on a cold January afternoon, when I was making my way to the Great Hall for lunch with Mione. We were discussing an upcoming Potions essay Snape had assigned that was due in only four days. We had made the decision to meet at the library after the rest of the day's classes ended, and we were determined to get it done whether or not we had to miss dinner. It was then, when we were working out the kinks of our plan, that Ron joined us stumbling along to catch up with us as we soon approached the entrance to the Great Hall. 

"Hey Hermione. Hey Cordelia." Ron nodded to each of us as he went to walk on the other side of Mione. 

"What's up, Ron?" I asked, interested in how his meeting alone with Snape after class had ended went. I had to admit that Snape's aversion to Ron was hilarious, so much so that either Ron really was the worst at Potions out of our entire year, or Snape was just screwing with his potions on purpose. 

"Not much. Listen, have either of you seen Harry?" 

"No." Hermione and I both said simultaneously, exchanging worried looks as a crowd of first years pushed us forward into the Hall. 

"Oh. Well, that's not good. I wonder where he's gone off to. I swear if Malfoy has-" Ron huffed, only to be cut off by a particularly smug Malfoy, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. 

"If Malfoy has what?" Draco drawled from the other side of me. Ron stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at Draco, while Hermione just shot him a quick glare and looked to me for confirmation, which I shrugged at. 

"If you've done anything to Har-" Ron sneered as Hermione shoved a hand over his mouth and pulled him off towards the Gryffindor table. Malfoy rolled his eyes and dragged me towards our own table. 

"Damn it, I was really looking forward to getting Weasel-Bee's panties in a twist!" 

I swatted at his hand on my shoulder blade, making my annoyance perfectly clear to him. 

"What? Weasel was gossiping about me." he muttered. 

"No, he had a valid point. He was worried about his friend, with who you happen to have a violent past. I'm not saying you did anything, which I don't think you did, but would you suspect Macmillan if I suddenly disappeared for the whole day?" I reasoned with him, trying to get the point across with as little damage as possible. He stiffened next to me, and I heard him swallow hard. 

"I wouldn't be so lazy as to mouth off about him first, I would just break his nose like a real man, unlike Weasel." he snapped, eyeing the Gryffindor table with slits for eyes. "Whoever is responsible for Potter's absence, tell them I said thanks." 

We sat down next to Pansy, who was having an animated conversation with Nott and Blaise. Oddly enough, Crabbe and Goyle weren't here and neither was Daph. Even after I scanned the incoming sea of heads filing into the Hall, I couldn't find her familiar blonde hair anywhere. 

Where is everyone today?

Malfoy kicking me under the table and Nott clearing his throat eventually knocked me out of my trance after a few seconds, turning my attention back on our table. They both gave me calculating looks like they were trying to remember the first 100 numbers of Pi. 

"Shouldn't you eat something?" Theo asked, still wearing the same pseudo concerned look. I looked to Malfoy, who nodded towards the full table of food. I sighed and reached for the fruit bowl scooping up an apple, then grabbed a muffin from a gold platter and placed them both on my plate, giving them a tight smile. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Theo." I smiled, although I was sure that it didn't meet my eyes. I'd been getting no sleep for the past week due to all of the stress from the large influx of work our teachers had suddenly decided to drown us with ever since we had gotten back from the holiday. 

"C'mon on Core, you should really-" Theo was cut off by the overbearing sound of wings flapping against the wind and loud squawking as a swarm of owls made their way through the Hall, dropping two letters onto my plate and one on Draco's too. I looked up at him and smiled, hoping that this time it would be from his mother rather than his father. The last time his father sent him a letter we barely saw him for three days, and even though he had just brushed it off as studying, we all knew something was wrong. 

I looked down at my own letters and saw one from my mom, which I promptly tore open, excited to see the contents of this week's letter. I felt a big smile pulling at the corners of my lips as I finally read the entirety of her message. 

"What is it? Good news?" Draco smiled, leaning over my shoulder to get a better look, but I intercepted, turning the letter face down on the table before he could see it. 

"It's an invitation to my best friend's birthday. Mum forwarded it here from home." I chirped, careful not to give him more information than necessary this time. I had even had mum start collecting Luke's letters rather than have him send them directly to Hogwarts where Draco could easily find them. 

"Oh. When is it?" he asked, seeming to actually be interested. 

"It's over Easter break. He's turning 15." 

"Cool. Is he having a party or something?" 

"Yeah! Only the biggest ragger Britain's ever seen." I laughed, remembering how Luke's party got broken up by muggle cops last year. 

"Sounds fun." 

"Yep." I said, rereading the letter to get all of the details nailed down in my flakey at best brain. Just then, Will strutted up to our table waving his own invitation around as he ran a hand through his dark curls. 

"Guess what I just got?" he smirked, still waving the parchment around. 

"Me too. You're going aren't you?" I asked, my heart pounding in my head as the excitement overtook me. 

"Are you kidding me? Hell yeah I'm going. You remember how his party last year ended? Priceless." Will said in a sing-songy voice. 

"I was just thinking about that!" I exclaimed, now holding my invitation up in the air.

"I was thinking about bringing Serena... Do you think she would go?" he asked nervously, as his cheeks reddened slightly. I laughed at his boyish reaction, remembering that Malfoy was sitting right there next to me, watching us with curious eyes. 

"Yeah, I think she would. Go ask her." I laughed as I grabbed his shoulders and turned him towards the table most of the Beauxbatons girls were occupying, giving him a little push. 

"Right now." he panicked, looking to me for confirmation. 

"Yep, right now. Otherwise, I'll take her instead." 

"Fine, but if she says no, it's all your fault, Maxime." he huffed, as I saluted him before he slumped off to their table, still clutching the invitation. I could see the back of Serena's head, her signature strawberry-blonde curls shaking as she laughed with a group of other Beauxbatons girls. 

"Who was that guy? Do you know that girl from Beauxbatons when you went there?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows as his lips pulled into a tight line. 

"Oh, that was Will. And no, I don't know Serena from Beauxbatons. I met her here." I explained, too caught up with my budding plans for Luke's birthday to pay more attention to Malfoy. Not even 10 seconds later did he reach for the parchment I was gripping in my hands, as I quickly shoved it into the pocket of my robes, for later. 

"How do you know that guy?" he asked sounding dare I might say it, but nervous. "I assume he goes to Durmstrang." 

"I know Will because we live in the same neighborhood." I answered, already fed up with Draco's questions. When I glanced back at him, his eyes had widened and he looked surprised, shocked actually. 

"He does? You're friends with him?" 

"Yeah, of course, I am." I laughed at Draco's expense. "I've known him since I was 6." 

So, remember when I said that I had a grand total of 3 friends growing up who knew magic existed? Well, Luke and Will make up two out of the three. Luke and I went to Elementary school together, and of course, since Will and I lived in the same area, our families were friends. Whenever I was bored, I would go straight to the Langley's and insist that Will come play with me. Eventually, once I met Luke, it became the three of us, rather than just Will and I. Our childhoods were filled with vivid memories of three people potato sack races. 

"What?!" he muttered.

"Yep." I shrugged, taking a piece of toast off his plate and biting into it before he could stop me. We were silent for a few moments, letting the constant chatter of the Hall engulf us, while Malfoy looked between me and the Beauxbatons table like it was a tennis match. 

"Who are you and what have you done with my 'Delia?" he finally breathed.

"I didn't do anything to anyone, Dray." I shrugged, feeling a small smirk spread across my lips at the nickname he had given me. No one except him had ever called me Delia. Just like I was the only one who called him Dray.

And with that, I got up grabbing my bag and the muffin off my plate, mumbling a hasty "Goodbye" over my shoulder as I walked off to go find Harry or Daphne, or both I hadn't decided yet. 

I thought I had grabbed the second letter, the one that I had avoided because of the return address scrawled out on the back of the envelope, but I would soon find out that I had in fact forgotten it, leading Malfoy to pick it up in a lazy attempt to return it to me.

***

I was lying across one of the couches in the common room that night, taking up almost the entire length of it as I watched the room slowly empty out, a pile of completed homework in front of me. 

I was so tired, that I was having such a hard time keeping my eyes open, the warmth radiating off the fire not helping the situation at all. Sleep had just started to welcome me, as I heard the common room door slam behind me. I immediately jumped, my eyes shooting open as I turned around to tell whoever it was to be quiet since it was so late and I was in no mood to explain to the rest of the house how we lost points because of some imbeciles lack of manners.

"How?" Malfoy sneered, holding up a piece of parchment covered in an untidy scrawl, dropping it into my lap. My eyeballs nearly bugged out of my head as I skimmed over it. 

"Dray," I croaked, my throat suddenly going dry.

"How?" he repeated, tapping his foot against the carpet impatiently. 

"I...I-" I started my voice faltering immediately, as he held up a hand to silence me. 

"You're friends with Luke Pucey?" he yelled, suddenly only inches away from my face. "You know who he is, don't you?" 

"Yes, I do." I said, as my hands began to shake around the parchment that I was beginning to crumple into a ball involuntarily. 

"He's a bloody squib. Have you lost your damn mind?"

"I know he is." I replied, trying to keep my calm.

"You knew? What the fuck, Maxime." he scoffed, his hot breath scorching my face. 

"I didn't always know." I pleaded. 

"How long have you known then?" he said, his eyes searching my face at breakneck speed. 

"Two years, since I was thirteen." 

"You're a traitor, a muggle lover." he said in a loud booming voice that sounded less like the one he used with me and more like the one he used around Harry, as he snatched the letter right out of my hands, unfolding it as he walked around the couch. 

I narrowed my eyes at his accusation, "I am not a traitor." 

"You are. You are friends with a muggle. You're an embarrassment." he said coldly.

I felt like I had been punched hard in the stomach, blinking at his audacity. 

"Excuse me?" 

"And this," he drawled, pointing at a particular paragraph written on the parchment, one I knew without even looking at it to double-check. "What's this about going to muggle school together?" 

"I... I went to muggle school with him, it's true. But, it's not why you think." I croaked out, my throat going dry suddenly. Here it was people, the moment of truth. 

"What could possibly warrant you going to school with Muggles?" he snarled as he approached me again. 

"I didn't know. About magic, I didn't know." 

"What?" 

The look of shock appeared again, taking over his face. 

"I didn't know about magic. My parents didn't tell me until my Hogwarts letter arrived on my thirteenth birthday. I had no idea." I admitted. Now he was so close to me, that I could see the slight bags under his eyes, and count his eyelashes. My nostrils filled with the scent of his cologne as I stood dangerously close to him. 

"I should've known with you being so close to Granger and everything." he laughed humorlessly, running a hand through his hair as he shook his head at himself. And then realization washed over him and he shot back, "Why thirteen, not eleven like the rest of us?"

"I don't know. I didn't start experiencing such things until I was thirteen." 

"It doesn't matter, you're still a muggle loving traitor." he breathed harshly, and I could tell that there was no reasoning with him at this point-his mind was made up.

"You're seriously considering letting this impact our friendship?" I gasped, taking the last step towards him that separated us. 

"I'm not considering it. There is no friendship anymore." 

"Oh that's right, you're so scared of daddy finding out that you associate with muggle lovers, I forgot." I hissed, trying to find something to make him hurt the way he was making me. 

"We're not friends, Maxime." he said coldly, the uninterested mask he usually wore making its way back to his face.

"No, you're wrong about that Malfoy, we're nothing." 

"Fine."

"I hate you." I yelled, pushing past him, and bumping into his shoulder forcefully while doing so. A cold hand grabbed my wrist to stop me. 

"I could say the same about you." he drawled, the mask now completely on as he threw my wrist back at me and stomped up the stairs to the boys dormitories without looking back once. 

In the following months before school ended, that's exactly what we were; Nothing. 

We did our bests to avoid each other, even if it meant flaking out on our friends. In fact, the only time we interacted at all was when we were insulting each other, playing a slew of pranks on each other, or casting hexes and jinxing each other. 

We almost came to hate each other just as much as Malfoy and Harry hated each other. The whole school came to know about our feud as news like that usually spread like wildfire around Hogwarts, no thanks to Pansy I'm sure. 

Most people viewed me as a hero, one of the only ones who were brave enough to stand up to Malfoy and show him his place, while they came to dislike him even more for hurting a girl. 

By the end of the year, I was determined to prove Malfoy wrong by befriending as many people as possible, having been given some sort of attention by at least half of the Durmstrang boys, becoming popular around the Beauxbatons crowd because of my aunt, and getting even closer to the trio than I was before our falling out. And since he wasn't around to constantly insult them in front of me or tease me for befriending them, I saw no reason not to spend more time with them than my Slytherin friends. 

I dated Cedric until he died and when Harry brought him back onto the field, caring his pale lifeless body, Malfoy had pulled me off of him and bridal-style carried me back to the common room silently. That was the only time Malfoy and I had had an interaction without any pranks, insults, jinxes, or hexes since that night in the common room. 

It all left me feeling a strange sense of great discomfort with not only him but the new world I lived in.

Draco Malfoy has been one of my best friends, not only just at Hogwarts, but in general. I saw the good side of him that so few people had. I had not only lost a friend, but I had lost someone who made this new world livable. 

And it was all taken away by a life that was no longer mine. A life that had haunted me in the beginning of my time at Hogwarts, but that had faded away as began I embrace how much I truly loved Hogwarts and being a Slytherin, with the encouragement of my friends of course. 

I was more than anything, disappointed in Draco Malfoy. For not only was I not the person he thought I was, but he wasn't the person I thought he was either. The light and goodness that he had shared with me, seemed to have been crushed, like it never even existed. 

As the anger built up, I realized that I also felt sorry for him, because he would never have the courage to show me or anyone else that light again. 

And I had a good feeling that things were about to get even more heated in my feud with Malfoy during this upcoming year, which I was entirely prepared for. But, maybe that was just my seers sense kicking in.

A.N: I know this was pretty long and not all chapters will be quite this long, but it was a much needed back story just to give you more context. Chapter 1 is about to be finished, so you guys can finally get into the story. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Current Time (5th year):

Draco:

"Malfoy, what fuck are we doing here-" she whispered angrily, glaring at me with even more intensity than usual. 

I guess that's what you get for sleeping with your biggest enemy. Well biggest enemy besides Potter, but no amount of socializing and living amongst filthy Muggles could worsen my opinion of her by that much or the fact that her best friend was a squib. 

"Shut up." I rasped, pulling a confused Cordelia to my side in one swift motion. She glared up at me at first, then realization washed over her almost instantly, and a devilish smirk spread across her lips. 

"Oh." she purred. I felt a grin of my own coming on as I met her halfway just as she turned toward me, pulling her to me and lacing my fingers tightly around her small waist. Her hand reached up for my tie and dragged me down to her face, crashing her soft lips against mine, latching against them like they were air. 

Her hands quickly found my hair, pulling at it greedily, eliciting a soft moan. It was soft but painful, I loved it. My own hands pushed her even closer to me, deepening the kiss, as I yanked her hair down to angel her face up at me. 

Boy did I hate her, but bloody hell was she good at this. I nipped at her bottom lip, to which her lips curled into a smile against mine, one of her hands still happily pulling my hair, the other fisting the front of my shirt. 

My lips broke off of hers for a few quick seconds, before I relocated them to the crook of her neck. She groaned almost impatiently and sighed as if fighting her own mental battle. 

"Dray, we can't." she breathed, breaking the peaceful silence. I rolled my eyes against the skin of her neck even though I knew full well just how much we couldn't do this. 

We were enemies; The worst of them. She was heavily associated with Muggles, and to make it all worse she was friends with the Granger and Potter. She was pretty much as off-limits to me as it got. 

It wasn't fair in the slightest. My short-lived relationship with Pansy was all based on obligation to my family, which didn't work based on a mutual agreement that we both valued our friendship and the whole thing just made it even more awkward. 

Now, Cordelia, on the other hand, drove me absolutely mad, not only with pure blind rage but the intensified itch of wanting to touch her constantly, no matter who was around; Lust, that strange feeling was lust. I was madly in lust with her.

And the only thing that brought me out of my trance was the feeling of her nipping at the crook of my neck, pulling the tucked in bottoms of shirt out of my pants, her small hands going to undo the button of them, as a low growl escaped from my lips. 

I felt my lips curl into a smirk, I guess she changed her mind after all.

A.N: So, that's the first little snippet of this story. I really wanted to include this in the summary, but there just wasn't enough space, so here it is. I hope you enjoyed it, and just know that more is coming. Please continue to read, vote and comment!


	3. Chapter 1

Draco:

I was following my father onto platform no. 9 3/4 lugging around my trunk with my mother on my tail as he rushed through the sea of wide-eyed children and their melancholy parents, tears dotting their eyes as they watched their children run off to go find their friends. 

The platform was so loud that I could barely hear any of the things that my parents were saying to me, and honestly I didn't want to. 

It was the same thing every year: Father giving me strict orders to watch Potter like a hawk and report back to him as often as possible, and mother double-checking that I had everything I needed, telling me that she could send me anything I forgot before she pulled me into a much too long hug. For once, I was glad to be around such unnecessary noise. 

"Draco, keep an eye on Potter. Do not let me down." father said sternly, looking down at me from his towering height. 

Did I call it or did I call it?

I nodded and scanned the crowd for Crabbe and Goyle or even Zabini. Perhaps they could show up at just the right time for once and I would surely have to go wait with them to find an open compartment on the train before this could go on any longer. . .

"Yes, Father." I muttered. Then it was his turn to nod and look away, back towards the way we had come.

I looked down at the Prefect's badge pinned to my shirt with a full grin on my face as we made our way to a less populated area to wait for the train to arrive. 

It had been one of my most prideful moments when I had been named a Prefect, even father had been pleased. It was a new power that I planned on abusing every now and then, just to make things a bit more interesting. 

I swear if Potter's the Gryffindor prefect, Dumbledore really must've gone mad in the head. Potter isn't fit to be a Prefect, and I think we all know that by now. 

I shook my head at that thought, tired of Potter's antics and the reminder of his fame that seemed to follow me around like an angry belligerent rain cloud. 

A second later I saw a flash of caramel blonde hair rush past me and my family, making me not realize that my mother's hand was now placed gingerly on my shoulder.

The blonde continued on a few more strides and then abruptly stopped not even 15 feet away from us. Next to her was a tall boy with dark curls and big green eyes. I seemed to recognize him, but from where I had no idea. 

"You'll send me my camera once you get back home?" said an all too familiar high pitched shrilly voice and I immediately looked to see the location of the voice, only to find out that it was coming from the mysterious blonde girl. 

That was the voice of Cordelia Maxime, just the girl I didn't want to see. If she's the other Slytherin prefect, I might just jump off the damn roof of the castle rather than spend so mouch time with her regardless of the newfound power I was gaining. 

Cordelia Maxime? She has brown hair. . . 

I stared her down for a second, trying to confirm my suspicions, even though her annoying voice was enough to know it really was her. But blonde, really? She had never expressed any interest in dying her hair before. . . 

I did have to say that it suited her though, one might even go as far as to say she looked good. Unfortunately for her, that someone was not me. 

The summer had done a definite number on her; She was taller, thinner too in addition to her new hair color. A light green sweater hung off her shoulders, constrasting with the loose cream-colored jeans and white sneakers she was wearing. I had to say that she looked much older, and seemed to hold herself with more confidence and grace. 

And there I went doing it again. None of that mattered, not her hair, her clothes, none of it. Her muggle loving ways were still alive and well, and as long as they were, we were nothing but enemies. 

I couldn't help but stare at the way her much too big sweater showed off the way her shoulder bones protruded out of her shoulders and her collarbone looked oddly defined. Her arms looked longer, and her already thin legs were smaller too. 

I grimaced and looked down at my trunk just as I heard her let out a long sigh.

"Alright alright, I will." the boy chuckled, shaking his head at her as he looped his arm around her waist. 

My mother shook my shoulder, pulling my attention back to my family. I blinked at the change, turning to face them both. 

"Draco? Do you know those kids?" mother asked. 

Yes, but I wish I didn't.

"No." I said coldly.

"Alright then." she said, nodding with understanding.

"Draco, I must be on my way. Remember what we talked about, son." father said lowly, still looking towards the way we had come, his body now angled towards the path out of the platform. "Keep your marks up. It's your O.W.L.'s year. I expect nothing but the best." 

"I will." I nodded.

"You'll be alright to wait by yourself?" mother asked sweetly. 

"Yes, I'll be fine." I assured her. She smiled tightly and pulled me into a hug, mussing my hair in the process.

When she finally let go of me, she waved and said, "Have a good year, Draco." 

"Goodbye, son." father muttered, leading her towards the exit, maneuvering throught the crowds as they went. I turned back towards Maxime and her best buddy almost instantly. 

"You better, Will Alexander Langely." she mumbled, searching the crowd for any of her friends just like she always did in the common room at school. "You know what will happen if you don't."

A vague memory of her talking to a boy named Will, who I realized was the boy standing right next to her currently, about her squib friends birthday party came to mind. Her sheepishness around the subject was what really stuck out to me. That and the fact that she was suddenly becoming a social butterfly out of nowhere. 

"Geese, calm down, Cordelia. I'll owl you your precious camera." Will sighed, scratching the back of his neck casually.

They were really still talking about some dumb camera?

"That's only because you saw what I did to Leo." 

"Okay, that was just sick and wrong!" he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Only you would think to deck someone for borrowing a roll of film." 

"Nuh uh. He did not borrow it, that would have implied him asking before he took it. Besides, it wasn't even that bad."she tsked, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. Her gaze was soon fixed on something behind Will, as a smile stretched across her lips, her arms waving frantically over her head.

"Blair, you decked him twice with no notice." said a frustrated Will turning to see what she was waving at, just as another blonde head stepped into sight and greeted the pair, Daphne Greengrass. 

Hold up. Blair? Why the hell would he call Cordelia, Blair? 

I was learning so many things by eavesdropping on this conversation, it wasn't even funny. Well, actually it was- that was kind of the point. Every new thing I learned about Cordelia, I planned on using against her this year. 

As the group broke apart from the threesome hug they were currently in, the two girls laughed, Maxime messing up Will's hair and Daphne punching his harm playfully. 

"I'm gonna miss you two loons." Will droned.

"Aw, now we all know that's a lie." a fourth voice called, making all three of the friend's heads turn to look at a tall strawberry blonde girl walking towards them, with a boy I vaguely recognized to be the best friend of Will, a fellow Durmstrang student. "You'll miss me more."

"Serena!" Daphne and Cordelia shouted in unision, exchanging smiles as they rushed over to where she stood, meeting her halfway. 

"I keep telling you to transfer back to Beauxbatons. Olympe would love to have you, and you know that. It's your fault that the group is breaking up." Serena said defiantly, her chin angled up towards the ceiling. A moment later, the whole group burst into laughter, throwing their heads back and shooting each other wild smiles.

So, then I guess they weren't in on her little secret, if they still belived that she had transfered to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons. But, then again she had grown up with that Will guy, and she surely had told Daphne at some point. The other two seemed trust worthy enough. 

Stop it. Cordelia Maxime and her dirty little secret mean nothing to you. 

"Ahem, its not breaking up. We're just parting ways for now. We'll see each other at Christmas." Will sternly reminded them. The group exchanged glances and came together in another large hug. 

"I really wish I didn't always end up in the middle for these things." Cordelia cried from the very middle of the hug. Her complaint earning her a sprinkle of laughs and sighs from the group. 

"Shut up, Core." Daphne laughed, slapping the back of Cordelia's head, then the hug broke apart, all of them returning to their original stances.

"You keep an eye on her will you?" the blonde boy asked Daphne, eyeing Cordelia. She nodded, while Cordelia rolled her eyes. 

"Of course, Leo. Watch out for him for me, okay?" Daphne pointed towards Will, whose side was glued to Serena's. 

Leo and Will had switched places, Will's arm around Serena's waist now, and Leo's arm slung around Maxime's shoulder leaving Daphne to stand off to the side of Maxime, wringing her hands together, then wipping them on her sweatshirt. 

"Already done." he promised.

"Alright party people, the train's going to leave in ten minutes. Get a move on it." Will said, checking his watch. A chorus of sighs broke through the group, all seemingly sad over their departure. 

The train was here? I hadn't even heard the screech of it's chugging and smelled the layer of thick smokey exhuast that usually clouded the air when it stopped at the platform. 

"Core, please take care of yourself." Leo said adamantly. 

"Sure thing." she huffed, avoiding making eye contact with anyone in the group. 

"I'm serious, okay? You shouldn't listen to him." 

"I don't remember saying that I planned on doing that." she snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Hey Core, this is serious. I know you care about him but what he thinks doesn't matter. He's a dick for saying that to you." Will cringed. "Promise me you'll be safe." 

Promsie me you'll be safe. 

You shouldn't listen to him.

Keep an eye on her.

What the bloody hell was all of that supposed to mean? Is Maxime okay? Is she in danger? 

Okay, screw that. She's a fucking muggle loving traitor, I cannot feel sorry for her or whatever that feeling was. She deserves whatever happened to her.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Cordelia muttered, still looking away from the group, her arms crossed over her chest. 

Wait a minute, were they talking about me? Our rivalry had resulted in both of us being sent to the infirmary a few times last year; Some people thought our hatred for each other was dangerous, but both of us found it to be amusing. . .

I know you care about him but what he thinks doesn't matter.

She doesn't care about me, not anymore. Just like I don't care about her. She wouldn't let what I thought impact her decisions at all unless they involved getting back at me in one way or another. 

If they weren't talking about me, then who were they talking about?

"Eddie will come around sometime." Daphne interjected, rubbing Maxime's shoulder, as she finally met her gaze.

Bingo.

"What if he doesn't?" Maxime asked, clearly trying to keep her voice even, but it was too late, her usual amused mask was melting away. 

"He will." Leo added.

"But-"

"Don't worry about us. Just work on passing your O.W.L's and taking care of yourself." Will pleaded. "No funny business." 

Cordelia was now curling both of her hands into tight fists at her sides, chewing at her bottom lip nervously as she surveyed the concerned looks on all of her friends faces. 

"There's no damn way my dad will let me back in the house, if I don't pass my O.W.L.'s." she drawled. 

I could tell that even though she was trying to bring some humor into the conversation to distract them from her friend's interogation, what she said was true. She meant what she had said with all certainly, the small forced smile she gave Will and Leo didn't meet her eyes, and the look on her face after she recovered was one more of fear and guilt than anything else, which both proved that. I had never, not once seen Cordelia scared. 

"Stop that." Will yelled, grabbing her balled up fists from her sides. He began to unwrap them as she struggled and looked back towards the train. 

I squinted to see what they were all looking at inside of her palms, leaning significantly closer to where they were standing only a few feet away.

In the middle of her palms, a small line of red crecents was etched into her skin. The skin itself was raw and in some places even a little bloody. 

She had squeezed her hands into fists so hard that she had cut herself with her own fingernails. Her fingernails from what I could tell, looked even shorter than they usually were. It was clear that she had done it on purpose. 

I felt a gasp escape from my lips, quickly trying to cover it up with a coughing fit, but it was too late. The group turned to look at me, Will still holding Maxime's open hands. They all eyed me with venimous stares, looking me up and down slowly. All of them looked nervous like a big secret had just been revealed to the whole school, which it pretty much had been.

"Shove off, Malfoy." Will sneered, motioning for me to look way. The whole group now looked surpised at his acknowledgment of me, even Cordelia who was now gawking at me, her mouth wide open, and eyebrows furrowed. I nodded and did so just as he turned back to his own group, leaving me to blatantly stare at them once more. 

"Give me my hand back, Will. Look what you just did!" she hissed, pulling out of his grip. "I didn't even mean to, okay?" 

"I'm sorry. Just don't do it again." he scolded, the entire group shaking their heads at Cordelia's shocking self destructive behavior, right back to ingoring me. 

"And try to have fun at school, let yourself be a teenager for once." Leo suggested, poking her rib cage, making her squeal and inch towards Daphne. 

The group soon pushed Daphne and Cordelia towards the train, each taking turns to hug both of them, while the boys helped them load their trunks. Then, the pair of blondes sauntered onto the train and disappeared out of my line of sight. 

I blinked trying to comprehend all of the information I had just overheard. 

Cordelia Maxime was hurting herself not just now, but it was obvious from the way her friends talked about it, that she did it quite often and had been for a while. 

Suddenly, it all made sense; All of the mysterious pleads her friends had made, urging her to take care of herself and stay safe, made complete sense. 

She was not that same girl I had met when I was 13. She wasn't the hot headed, stubborn, determined girl who I had met back then, been friends with even. She had been scared just a few minutes ago, so scared that she felt the need to inflict pain upon herself to ease her worries.

Come to think of it, she had looked tired, sporting faint purple bags under her eyes, even her complexion looked much paler, and maybe just maybe her hands had been shaking. Something was wrong with her that hadn't been before this summer. 

Now, all I had to figure out was who the hell Eddie was and why all of this was causing her to take such extreme measures. That was my new mission for the school year. I now had two dirty little secrets that would both destroy Maxime's repuation, and I planned on using them against her. Besides, what else was there to do at school anyways?


	4. Chapter 3

Cordelia:

As we all sat down for dinner in the Great Hall after the long ride on the train from King's Cross to Hogwarts, Daphne and I both yawned, remembering our shitty sleep from the night before. I guess it wasn't the best idea to go to a party the night before leaving for school. 

Nonetheless, we both probably got a maximum of 4 hours of sleep, before my mum woke us up at the freaking crack of dawn to finish packing our trunks and eat breakfast with my dad. 

One of the most amusing things was that everyone and I mean everyone had done a double take when they saw me and Daphne walk in, probably because of my blonde hair. I had to say that it was pretty empowering to go from the same boring brown color to bright vibrant blonde, especially with all of the attention I was getting. Most people hadn't recognized me at first, even Crabbe and Goyle had been shocked. 

I had written to Hermione, Harry and Ron over the summer to warn them, so they had only been slightly fazed. And as for Daph, she had been there with me when I had gotten it done along with my mum; Who made a whole day out of it, taking us shopping and out to the movies. 

But the worst reaction of them all was Malfoy. He hadn't even seemed to notice, not a shred of shock or even a few extra glances here and there, not that I cared. But, then again he had seen me at the train station earlier. I was really dreading that mess. 

"Tired, you two?" Blaise inquired, sitting next to the platinum blonde devil himself, directly across from us. 

"Yes." I answered, taking a sip of water to occupy myself. Daphne quickly nodded to confirm our mutual lack of sleep. 

"Why stay up so late on the day before the start of the school year?" he scolded us, shaking his head. Zabini really was the mom of the group.

"We went to a party last night." Daph groaned as she rubbed the fresh sleep out of her eyes from her nap on the train.

"Well, that's about the dumbest thing the two of you have done so far."

"Gee thanks, Blaise." I scoffed. I could feel the burn of Malfoy's gaze on the side of my head as his eyes flickered to where I was sitting momentarily. 

I was surpised he had the guts to even look at me given our mutual hatred for each other, and what he had heard at the train station earlier. I swear if this turns out to bite me in the arse, I'm going to kill Will and Leo. Literally sneak into Durmstrang and murder them in their sleep. 

"Why did you even go in the first place?" Zabini muttered, greeting an also tired looking Nott with a quick pat on the shoulder. 

Why was he being so damn nosey? I swear sometimes I think Zabini needs to get out more. 

Nott looked taller, even though he was already almost as tall as Malfoy, his brown hair had grown to be wavy instead of ramrod straight, and his brown eyes seemed to be a bit lighter. I was glad that he looked well, and the smile his lips were spread into told me that he was in much better spirits than he had been at the end of last year. 

I shot him a nod and motioned for him to come sit on the other side of me, as Zabini and Malfoy were already squished on their side of the table, and I needed to talk to him about something anyways. 

He made his way around the table and plunked down next to me. When he sat down, I could see that even while sitting, he now towered over me. Jesus, he was tall now. 

"Screw that, how was it? Were there any hot guys?" Pansy interjected, cutting off an already peeved Zabini. Nott laughed, his dislike for gossip evident as usual.

"It was fun. But believe me Zabini, I regret it now. I'm never doing that again." I complained, leaning onto Daph's shoulder for support. 

"Good. One day, I'm not going to be here to remind you." Blaise sighed, spearing a lamb chop and transferring it onto his plate. 

"Don't be so bitter, Blaise." Malfoy snapped, making all of our heads turn towards him instantly. 

I could see now that he had gotten a hair cut over the summer, still his usual parted bowl cut, but instead of his hair falling into his eyes problematically, it was trimmed to sit just above them. His shoulders looked broader, and he too had gained some height even muscle as well. 

"Ugh, enough you two." Pansy said, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger as she looked at me and Daphne expectantly. "You never answered my question about the hot guys."

"Why does it matter?" I mumbled, looking down at my empty plate.

"Yes." Daph answered for me, reviving Pansy's pouty expression.

"And?" 

"Core danced with one and I just watched." she shrugged, sending blurry flashbacks of last night's events through my mind. I shivered and returned my attention back to the table. 

"Will you four shut up? I'm trying to listen." Malfoy drawled, looking directly at me, for the first time in months, with an expression almost void of hate, but instead intense focus and curiosity; It looked like he was trying to figure out the meaning of life. I looked away, my hand under the table clenching into a tight fist.

It seemed like I really was going to have to murder Will and Leo. Damn those stupid gits for broadcasting my issues to the entire school, especially Malfoy. 

"As if you would be listening anyways." I snorted, focusing on Dumbledor as he began his speech.

"Guys, look at her!" Pansy exclaimed, pointing at a short stubby looking woman sitting to the right of Dumbledor, covered in pink from head to toe. She looked like she had bathed in a can of hot pink paint. Even her thin shrivled lips were covered in fuschia lipstick. I hated the color pink and this only made me want to throw up even more.

"Who let the pink fairy into Hogwarts?" I huffed, avoiding Malfoy's intense gaze. Blaise and Pansy both snorted, trying to get a better look at the brightly colored woman's appearance. Theo shook his head in distaste.

"That would be Professor Umbridge, the new DADA teacher." he proclaimed, puffing up his chest proudly. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the staff table in the front of the Hall for the millionth time.

"Let me guess, daddy told you." 

"Yes, he did actually." 

"Figures." I mumbled. 

"I hope she's better than Moody. That old oaf was a nightmere." Pansy sighed, resting her head on Zabini's shoulder. I raised an eyebrow at the pair, only to be greeted with two scowls aimed towards me. They were awfully secretive for two people who were on my arse all of the time relentlessly. 

Crabbe and Goyle looked up from their meals tentatively and grumbled in agreement. They both shot me a quick smile and I returned the gesture, then winked back at them making them shake their heads and go back to scarfing their food down. 

"So, Pans did you meet any hot guys this summer?" I asked trying my best to sound innocent. Molfoy scoffed and returned to his food. 

"Of course." she chirped.

"Mhm." 

"Cut it out, Core." Daph scolded, grabbing my clenched fist in her own hand and unwrapping it under the table, as if to remind me of my promise to Will and Leo.

"I was just asking." I muttered. I turned to Nott and leaned into him, cupping my hand around his ear. "Can I talk to you about something after dinner?"

"Sure." he whispered back, nodding as a flash of concern came across his eyes. I nodded back and shifted into my previous postion closer Daphne.

"What're you two whispering about?" Zabini asked, this time he was the one cocking an eyebrow at us. Nott just shrugged while I looked to Daphne who shot me a solemn look, acknowledging that I had kept my promise to confide in Nott after his own rough time last year. Daph was convinced that after we had all worked together to cheer him up after his accident, that talking to him would suddenly do the same for me. Unfortunately for her, she still hadn't delt with my other problem. . . 

"It's nothing, Parkinson-"

"I just need to talk to Nott, is all." I said calmly, eyeing Malfoy as if to say 'You don't know shit', squaring my shoulders. Blaise shrugged, seemingly content with my answer.

"Just wondering." he explained, Theo and I nodded.

"What the hell-" Daph gasped, turning towards Dumbledor in his big chair at the front of the Hall. "Did she just do what I think she did?"

I turned to see Professor Umbridge stand just as Dumbledor abruptly settled into his chair. A large obviously faked smile spread across her lips much too slow for my taste- it was almost creepy. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck shoot up as a shiver ran down my back. 

"Hello, students. I'm so glad to be in the presence of such talented young wizards and witches! You all are the future of the wizarding world, and from what I can see it is a bright one. I would like to formally introduce myself, I am Professor Umbridge your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I have been sent by the ministry to make sure that you all get the education you deserve. I look forward to meeting all of you in class. It is so wonderful to see all of the smiles on your little faces, I'm sure you are all excited to get back into classes. I can assure you that we will all have loads of fun in my class this year." said Umbridge in a whiny artifically sweet voice just as Dumbledor stood from his seat again, cutting her speech off promptly. 

Thank god for Dumbledor. 

Lady, no one is smiling at you. Get on with it. You have an hour of our time everyday for the rest of the year to bore us. Let us eat our dinner in peace for fucks sake. 

From what I could tell, the rest of the Slytherin table looked just about as uninterested and miffed as I felt, virtually no smiles in sight.

"Geese, if she keeps talking like that I'm going to fall alseep in her class everyday." Zabini breathed, reaching for the spoon in the bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Eat something." Daph reminded me in a quiet voice, nudging my stomach with her elbow. Malfoy's eyes shot up and bored right into mine, he had on that same calculating curious expression again. "And don't tell me that you're not hungry again." 

"Um, I'm just worried about the Malfoy situation." I whispered into her ear, trying to make sure that he couldn't hear us. 

It was true, even though I hadn't planned on eating dinner anyways, knowing that Malfoy knew one and now probably two of my biggest secrets made me feel sick. That, the pressure of passing my O.W.L.'s, and this Umbridge lady were all collectively making my stomach turn into knots. 

"You really have to talk him about that." she whispered, concern evident in her voice. 

"Why?"

"Because he's probably confused and he might try to use it in one of your little games."

"I'm not stupid Daph, I know he might." I sighed, still whispering. 

"Then what do you plan on... Nevermind, I don't want to know. Just don't kill each other or get expelled." she whispered, sounding defeated.

"I won't, I promise." I assured her, then I dusted off my skirt and grabbed a roll from the basket on the table just as Dumbledor had finally finished his speech and people were slowly starting to trail out of the Hall, turning on my heel and shooting everyone a quick "See ya."

***

Nott and I were sitting on one of the couches in the common room later that night, after I had returned to the dorms and taken a shower, then changed into a pair of sweats and a baggy T-shirt. 

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked, starting down at his hands in his lap. 

"Well, Daph wanted me to talk to you about something important, if that's okay?" 

"Sure." he nodded. 

"It's about last year." I warned him, trying to avoid the subject for as long as possible.I hated talking about my feelings, in fact I only talked to a handful of people about my feelings really. I knew I could trust Theo and with all if the nagging Daph was doing about it, I figured it would be better to get it out of the way. 

"Okay." he said, motioning for me to continue.

Let the therapy session commence.

"I have a some issues, too." I admitted. "Daph thinks I have Anorexia and well this," 

I hesitantly held up my open palm for him to see the line red of crescents that I kept reopening just as they began to heal. He took my hand in his as his eyes widened. Now he was doing a similar look to the one Malfoy had been doing earlier, great.

"Cordelia-"

"I guess it's not really that big of a deal to me but-"

"I didn't do anything like this, if that's what you're wondering." he sighed, still inspecting my hand.

"I mean, I'm not doing it because I want to die or anything. . . " 

"Do you mind if I ask why then?" he questioned, gently setting my hand back in my own lap. His eyes locked onto mine and I nodded. I knew Nott had his own set of issues with his Dad, so this part proved to be easier than I was expecting. 

"My dad has been harsh lately, more than usual and it's our O.W.L's year, which is making it worse. It's like none of my hard work matters, it's not good enough; I'm not good enough. I don't know." I said quietly, looking to Nott for approval as he listened patiently. "And my best friend Eddie has been having some issues, too. He tried to kill himself at the end of the school year last year and got sent home early. I'm worried about him, Nott. I just feel like all of the pressure it getting to me." 

"I'm so sorry." he said, reaching across the length of the couch and hugging me. It was the first time Nott had ever hugged me, he was usually so relaxed and nonchalant that his gesture almost startled me. "Is he getting any help?"

"No, he refuses to tell his parents. We tried to help, but he wouldn't let us." I whispered, even though it wasn't necessary. It was sort of nice to be talking to someone other than Daph, Will, Leo or Serena about this, basically all of the other people who were going through the same thing with Eddie that I was. But I would never admit it.

"Are you getting any help? You could die from Anorexia, Cordelia." he said, the fabric of my T-shirt muffling his voice. 

"I can't-" I began, but was abruptly cut off by the sound of footsteps coming from a few feet away. I hadn't even heard the door open and close. 

A platinum head came into my line of vision and I shot away from Nott just as he turned to see who the newcomer was. I groaned and rolled my eyes, this was the worst possible moment for Malfoy of all people to be ready to play one of our games. 

"Well well well, what are you two doing up so late?" he mused, his signature smirk spreading across his lips as he eyed us in our place on the couch.

"We were just catching up." Nott jumped in, ignoring the glare Malfoy was giving him. I smiled at him, thanking him for saving me from having to answer Malfoy.

"Oh really? I don't think I've ever seen the two of you hugging." Malfoy scoffed, cocking a smug eyebrow as he came to sit in the grande armchair directly in front of our couch.

"There's a first for everything, Malfoy." I snapped.

"What are you doing up so late anyways?" Nott questioned. The smirk on Malfoy's stupid face widened as he adjusted his prefect's badge on his robes.

"Just doing my prefect duties."

"How responsible of you." I mumbled, picking at the loose skin aroud my nails. Malfoy opened his mouth to retaliate, but Nott beat him to it.

"I'm going up to bed. Cordelia?" he said, standing up and reaching for my hand.

"Go on, Maxime and I have some things to discuss." Malfoy drawled, looking into the fire as he waved Nott off dismissively. Nott turned to me, as if asking me if I was okay being alone with Malfoy. I nodded and watched him slowly make his way up the stairs to the door to the boy's dormitories and disappear behind it.

"You didn't eat anything at dinner." Malfoy said, turning to face me with that same curious calculating expression. The sound of his voice in the emptiness of the common room this late at night, startled me. 

My faced paled as I realized that he now knew about both of my secrets. He had gotten lucky earlier today at the train station thanks to Will's dumb need to yell everything, but he had figured out the second one on his own. Fuck.

"I had a roll, didn't you see, Commander Malfoy?" I muttered.

What was I supposed to do now that Malfoy knew both of my secrets? I could blackmail him like he was surely going to do to me. But with what information? He's Draco Malfoy, the fucking king of blackmail for gods sake. They don't call him the Slytherin Prince for nothing; He's the slimiest snake of them all and I would know. 

"A roll isn't dinner, Maxime."

"I don't see how my dinner is any of your business, Malfoy." I snapped, shooting him daggers as I waited for his response.

"Oh but you see it is. Your loud friends made it mine." he drawled, looking almost sort of guilty for a second before any trace emotion was wiped from his face. "It all makes sense now."

"What?"

"You've been skipping meals for years, Maxime."

"So?" 

"You don't eat."

"You don't have to be a dick and use it against me." 

"And what fun would I get out of that?" he smirked, noticing how I was wringing my hands together in my lap.

"Only the statisfaction of not being a selfish prick for once in your life." I supplimented, rolling my eyes at his stupid calculating expression. He almost looked constipated, he was so deep in thought.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I asked, completely fed up with Malfoy's crap. 

"Why do you do this to yourself?" he hissed, leaning forward off his chair, motioning towards me.

"You really must be stupid if you think I would ever tell you that." I laughed, throwing my head back just to toy with him.

"You really must be stupid if you think for one second that I don't know what you were really talking to Nott about." he snarled, shaking his head and narrowing his silver eyes into slits.

"And that is?" I challenged him, leaning forward off my own chair.

"That." he said, pointing at my hands. "And your eating problems."

"I don't have a problem." I scoffed.

"Yes, you do." he breathed, standing up from his chair, towering over me from where he stood, now directly in front of the couch I was occupying.

"It's none of your business." I breathed, standing from my own spot on the soft couch. The only sound in the now empty room was the crackling of the fire in front of us, and our heavy breathing.

"Fine. But, if you don't want me knowing about your dirty little secrets, then I don't suppose you would want the whole school to know either." 

"You little piece of shit, you wouldn't dare!" I hissed, realizing that we were now face to face, only inches apart. I could feel his hot breath scalding my cheeks. 

"Oh, but I would." he drawled, his eyes boring into mine as we stood faces only inches apart, completely still. "However, I'm willing to offer you a deal."

"And that would be?" I scoffed, not believing Malfoy could ever not take the opportunity to torture someone, especially not me.

"As long as you eat every meal, and stop hurting yourself, then I'll keep quiet." 

"Yeah, like you could keep quiet. What do you get out of this anyway?" I said, almost overheating with the amount of warmth that was radiating off of his body, and the second-hand heat in the air from the fire. 

His cheekbones looked a bit more defined too and his hair had lightened slightly. It was so slightly that you could only clearly see it when you were up close and personal with him, something I didn't want to be.

"It feels like cheating when you're like this, and I want to win fair and square." he mused, as he seemed to be looking at my lips now, but I couldn't tell for sure because he immediately met my gaze again.

"Fat chance you're going to get me to do that." I scoffed, pushing past him forcefully, making my way towards the stairs that led up to the dormitories. 

"I warned you," he said quietly, his face incredulous.

My eyes narrowed, "You're sick, you know that?"

"You're just as sick as me." he shrugged, his face looking blank again.

"I'm not doing that," I said, trying to keep the pleading note out of my voice.

"There's only one deal on the table, Maxime."

As he turned to look back into the fireplace, I could see his lips curl into a small smile. He titled his head to get a better look at the wild orange and red dancing embers of the fire as they lit up his skin. 

"That's not how it works." I shot back. The pleading note was definitely noticable now.

It was his turn to shrug as he continued staring into the depths of the fire, "That's too bad for you.". 

"Malfoy-"

"No fooling Daphne into thinking you ate, either." he added, as he came to stand face to face again.

"You stupid little ferret," I hissed, pushing my index finger into his chest accusingly. 

His cold fingers slowly wrapped around my wrist, then turned it around to forcefully open my palm. His eyes widened just like Nott's had as he got a better look at my wounds. 

"Jesus, Maxime." he breathed. I yanked my hand away from his grip.

"Screw off, Malfoy. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." I said cooly.

"It might do you some good to remember my deal." he offered, a forceful note clear in his low voice.

Who the hell does he think he is to be threatening me about my stupid eating disorder? 

"I swear to god, Malfoy." I whispered angrily. "You're going to regret this." 

"I look forward to it" he said, as a boyish grin tugged at his lips. He turned towards the stairs and flounced up the steps, stopping just before the door to the boy's dormitories. 

Looking over his shoulder he added, "See you at breakfast, Maxime."

After that shit show of a conversation, there were two things I was certain of, one being that I was 100 percent not going to be eating all of those meals, and two being that I was going to make sure that I made Malfoy regret this. 

***


	5. Chapter 3

Draco:

As I walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, I was greeted by a rampage of what looked to be mousey looking first and second years all rushing towards something behind me, hushed whispers echoing off of the stone walls as they went. I turned to find out what was going on, only to see them all gathering around Potter, his sidekicks and Cordelia. 

The four of them were deep in conversation about something, waving their arms around animatedly- as annoying as ever. I rolled my eyes and kept walking towards the Slytherin table.

I guess the news of Potters almost expulsion has finally gotten out. If only he had actually been expelled for good. . . 

As I make my way closer to the table, I can see that Blaise has left me a seat beside him as usual with Crabbe and Goyle on the other side of him. But, then I see that Daphne has also saved Cordelia a seat in between her and Pansy. 

Seeing as though Maxime is busy signing autographs with Potter for the first years instead of keeping up our deal, it only seems fair that I take her seat. 

I was almost disappointed that my fun for the year had already come to an end with her obviously pulling out of the deal so early. I was really looking forward to making her squirm.

I plunked down next to Daphne, causing her green eyes to shoot up from her plate and land on me, giving me her best withering stare. 

I just shrugged and went to serve myself some eggs before I saw that the plate in front of me was already full of food. Daphne had probably served it for Cordelia if and when she ever showed up. 

The portion wasn't too big, but I knew that it was definitely way more than Maxime would ever actually finish. Although these days, the most she would finish was maybe that roll she took for dinner last night, if anything.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Daphne hissed from beside me.

"I'm eating breakfast. You don't mind do you?" I smirked in anticipation for Cordelia's arrival; If Daphne was this annoyed then Maxime would be absolutely enraged. I guess the fun wasn't over yet. . .

"I was saving that place for Core." she said coldly, trying to push me off the bench, but failing miserably. 

I rolled my eyes, "I can see that."

"You two and your games, I swear..." she muttered, returning to her breakfast reluctantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her shaking her head as she went back to eating in silence. 

Just then, the guest of honor arrived at our table, sliding in next to Zabini with a large grin on her face. She looked down at her empty plate and then the plate piled high in front of me, the grin widening. 

Why was she so happy all of sudden? If anything she should be pissed off because of our deal- Oh. 

She had gotten out of having to eat Daphne's regimented portions. She no longer had the obligation to eat everything that Daphne had served her, only whatever meek excuse of a meal she had comfortably decided on for herself. 

Not only was she about to back out of our deal, but I had led her right into it; I had single handedly given her the opportunity to in the first place. 

Cordelia- 1, Draco- 0

How could I be so stupid? 

"What took you so long?" Daphne asked her, worry laced into her voice. 

Maxime shot her an incredulous look, "I had to meet with Snape to discuss my options for NEWT level potions next year." 

Of course she was going for NEWT. She was like the Granger of the Slytherins; Well, I couldn't compare her to that filthy muggle loving mudblood, even she wasn't that bad. But she sure was smart. Almost as smart as me. 

Maxime's hand shot out to grab an orange from the fruit bowl, her eyes meeting my gaze for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes smugly and went to pour herself a cup of tea. 

She drank it plain; No milk or sugar. I remembered how she was always going on about how much she fancied caffeine and how it was helpful for staying up late to study. She had been very exact with the amount of milk and sugar that she would allow in her tea even back then. 

"How many classes do you think we have with the Gryffindors this year?" Zabini sighed, shaking his head. 

"I don't know, I hope not too many." Pansy pouted. "I'd be happy with none." 

We all knew how awkward it was between us and the Gryffindors now that one of our own was in cahoots with them. To give Cordelia more credit, she pretty much ignored them around us to the best of her abilities. 

The problem was that they couldn't leave her alone. She always smiled at them and usually they all had hushed whisper conversations from across the room or even mouthed things at each other frantically, but that was about it. For the most part, we walked with Maxime to classes, though sometimes she walked with them too. 

I liked to think that was because I still had some influence on her. But then again, outside of classes, when she wasn't with us, she was with them. In fact, sometimes she would disappear for hours on end without telling anyone where she was, except for maybe Daphne. But still, most of us knew that when she did that, she was with them and she didn't want to be found.

Oh who was I kidding, why the hell was I thinking about this? If she wants to be a traitor and fraternize with the enemy, then by all means she could but she shouldn't expect any of us to come to her rescue anymore. Especially not me. 

I ate silently, tuning out all of the conversations going on around me, only briefly noting how Blaise and my two least favorite blondes were deep in conversation about something I couldn't care less about. 

A few minutes later, Snape slowly made his way down the table passing out class schedules as he went. He handed each of us our schedules without a single word, and all of us watched as the blank pieces of parchment soon filled with neat cursive, our names and house written at the top, with our classes and their time frames beneath it. 

"Bloody hell, we have three classes with the Gryffindors." Blaise huffed, placing his schedule on the table as he rolled his eyes. 

In my peripheral vision, I saw Cordelia's face light up slightly; Of course she was excited about having three classes, roughly half of our class load, with the dim witted Gryffindorks.

It infuriated me that she had gotten exactly what she wanted twice already, and it was only 8:00am. 

I was going to have to do something about that. 

I reached across the table and dropped a muffin onto her plate, startling her and Daphne. They shared a wide eyed confused look with each other, before turning to face me. 

"You like pumpkin muffins, don't you Maxime?" I drawled, smirking proudly. The conflicted expression that washed over her face as she looked to Daphne again only lifted my previously defeated spirits even more. 

"What the hell, Malfoy!" Daphne hissed, trying to beat me at our staring contest. 

A pair of angry blues met my gaze again, now with an incredulous look on her face, "I do. Unfortunately, I have some business to take care of before classes start." 

Was she really backing out of our deal so early?

"Oh I'm sure you do." I challenged her, turning to Zabini almost immediately. "Blaise, I think Cordelia has something to tell you." 

"Huh?" he asked, his mouth full of toast. He blinked and turned to the two girls, who were now both standing, brushing off their skirts. 

Cordelia scoffed, then angrily plucked the muffin off of her plate, and scowled directly at me.

Now, this was getting good. 

"Are you happy now, Malfoy?" 

"Yes." I smiled, running a hand through my hair. She continued glaring at me for a few more seconds before her eyes focused on something behind me. She nodded her head towards the exit leading out of the Great Hall, then promptly hitched her bag over her shoulder and strode away. 

I didn't bother giving her the satisfaction of looking to see who or what she was looking at behind me. 

I waited until the sound of her angry footsteps against the marble floors faded into the buzz of chatter that was always present at meals. This time, they stopped abruptly only about 50 or so feet away. 

I turned to see that Maxime had stopped directly in front of a trash bin pushed against the wall. She looked over her shoulder, surveying her surroundings for anyone watching her, completely missing my blatant staring, and threw the muffin into the bin. Then, she walked off towards the exit, meeting up with Granger just before the doors let out into the adjacent corridor. 

***

Lucky for us, we had double Potions today, rather than DADA which people were already whining about. I hadn't paid attention to the rumors of course, that was Pansy's job anyways. But, I definitely wasn't looking forward to our first DADA class tomorrow. 

Blaise and I were sitting on the left side of the room as always, positioned closer to the front because Blaise claimed to have trouble seeing the board, and rather than listen to him complain it was an easy compromise. 

As the room filled up, the table pushed up against ours was left empty, probably the Gryffindorks lazy effort to put as much distance between us as possible, which I had to say was a smart move. In fact, it was a bad idea right now just to have Potter and I in the same room. 

I was surprised though that no other Slytherins had claimed the empty table next to us, especially not even Pansy or Nott. Both of them were sitting directly in front of us, Pansy gossiping about Umbridge, and Nott getting out his materials in a valiant effort to ignore her. 

It was only about a minute or so before class started that I spotted two blondes making their way to the Slytherin side of the room, laughing as they went. I instantly put on a smirk, knowing that the table next me was the only one left open, besides a single seat next to Longbottom, that not even Maxime would dare to take. 

Once they were closer to us, Daphne steered Cordelia towards our table, a sour expression on her face as she realized where Daphne was taking her. 

"Can't I got sit by Nott? Parkinson wouldn't mind," she whined, staring at the back of Nott's head pleadingly. 

Daphne shook her head, her hands on Maxime's shoulders still steering her to us, "Oh yes she would." 

"Fine, but I make no promises." Maxime whispered just loud enough for me to hear, as she slid into the seat directly next to me. 

"Neither do I." I scoffed, making my intentions crystal clear.

She ignored me, taking out her materials and placing them out across the table neatly. 

Just then, Snape lazily made his way down the aisle separating the two sides of the room, until he reached the front and spun around to face us.

"Hello students, welcome to 5th year Potions. As you all know, I am professor Snape. This year we will be preparing for the exam you will be sitting in June. Meaning that we only have one more year together to suffer through until that sweet goodbye as most of you surely do not meet the NEWT requirements I expect from my students." He drawled, eyeing Longbottom, who visably sank into his chair and gulped hard. 

Cordelia frantically tried to cover her mouth as she began to laugh, her distaste for 'lazy slackers' apparent. I joined her, to which she shot me a small smirk and nodded towards Longbottom. 

Then Snapes's hard gaze landed on Crabbe and Goyle, who were sitting behind us. "I will be grading you by O.W.L.'s standards from the beginning of the year, so as to prepare you to pass said exam. However, even that cannot save some of you." He paused as he turned towards Potter, who stared back at him in defiance, titling his chin up towards the ceiling slightly. Cordelia's face went blank, as Snape looked at Potter with a disgusted expression. 

"I will only be taking a select few of the more..." he shot his gaze directly at Cordelia next to me, who beamed up at him surely beyond proud of herself.

Why did she have to be such as kiss arse? Didn't all of the teachers already like her? 

"advanced students for my NEWT level Potions class, but nevertheless I will be expecting the same performance from those of you less gifted students. Do not disappoint me." Snape said clearly bored with us already. 

Then, he turned to the board behind him and with a flick of his wand, the instructions for today's potion appeared in white cursive.

'Today's potion is Draught of Peace. Tomorrow you will be expected to successfully mix the cure, Invirgoration Draught.' 

As if on que, Snape turned back to the class, "Today we will be brewing a potion that will likely be mentioned on the O.W.L.'s: The Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Now, be warned: if you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients, you will put the drinker into a deep and sometimes irreversible sleep. You will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." 

Then, everyone was up and heading for the storage closet at the back of the room to get the ingredients, since as Snape has written on the board, the potion takes 90 minutes to brew, and we only have about 95 miniutes left in class.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Maxime you two work together. I'm going to have to pair Mr. Zabini with Longbottom, as I don't wish to see my classroom burst into flames." Snape instructed, pointing at Maxime and I. Blaise sighed and got up, dragging himself over to where Longbottom sat all alone.

"Oh good god," she sighed, standing up from her chair next to me. I rolled my eyes and followed her to the small crowd of other students waiting by the storage closet. 

"This is a one person job, Malfoy." she huffed as she pushed a few Gryffindors out of her way. "Go back to the table and do something productive." 

"I have to make sure that you don't forget the unicorn horn like you did last time." I drawled, reminding her of her only mistake in Potions last year that prompted a three-hour break down in the common room. 

She flinched visably, her mask cracking slightly. Then she pushed a disoriented Longbottom out of her way, who didn't budge one bit. 

"Move it, Longbottom." 

"I was in line first." he complained.

"I do belive she asked you to move, Longbottom." I added, coming to stand next to Cordelia. 

He turned to wholeheartedly face us, gulping as he had at Snape's glare, "I was here first."

"Hello Longbottom, good summer?" she asked in a mischievous voice, putting her hand up to silence him before he could open his mouth to answer. "Oh wait, you probably spent it at St. Mungo's visiting your parents in the looney bin." 

"N-no." he stuttered, looking down at his feet as she laughed, smirking proudly. I laughed too, throwing an arm over her shoulder. 

Damn, she was good when she wanted to be. 

Longbottom eyed our stance, looking between the two of us frantically, "So that's it, you're going to pick on people together rather than each other? I don't think Harry would like this." 

"My alliances have nothing to do with them, Neville." she sneered, although it was obvious he had hit a nerve.

"So what if we are?" I challenged him, watching him fidget with his robes anxiously. 

At this, Maxime smirked and relaxed from her rigid position under my arm, leaning it to a little. 

"Move along. I won't be asking you again." Maxime said in a harsh tone. Longbottom quickly scrambled out of our way and back to his table where Zabini sat impatiently. He hadn't even bothered to go wait in the back of the line. 

We made our way to the storage room, where I made a point of grabbing the proper amount of unicorn horn and she gathered the rest of the ingredients carefully. 

Granger walked in and rushed over to Maxime hugging her tightly, eliciting a soft smile from Maxime. 

At first Maxime had blanched at Grangers sudden gesture, as they didn't usually make their friendship so public in classes. Soon after, her hands still clutching the ingredients loosened, to hug Granger back. 

"I've missed you, Core." Granger gushed in her annoying high pitched voice.

"I missed you too, Mione." Maxime laughed nervoiusly. She was a master at ignoring me. 

Sighing in disgust, I took that as my que to leave. 

***

When I got to the common room later that day, after classes had ended and we had all suffered through another mundane speech from Umbridge at dinner, I found Cordelia sitting on her usual couch in front the fireplace, a book in her lap, writing furiously on an unsuspecting sheet of parchment. 

I had hoped for a quiet night with a book just like she apparently had as well, but I knew this was unavoidable. 

Shaking my head, I approached the couch she was curled up on. Her head snapped up to meet my gaze immediately. She dropped the quill she was holding and shoved the parchment into the pocket of her sweatshirt. 

"That stunt you pulled was unacceptable even for you." she snapped.

"What stunt?" I asked innocently as I sat down on an arm chair across from her.

She fixed me with her anrgy glare and shifted to fold her arms across her thin frame, "You know what you did."

"And that is?" I said, stealing one of her own lines. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I was finished. You insisted that I eat meals, and I did. Then you just had to make that harder than it already is." she hissed, the fire in her eyes igniting.

To be honest, I hadn't really considered the fact that it might be hard for her to eat. I was more concerned with getting her healthy again, so that I could continue our little rivalry without the guilt that she was ill. I wanted to know that I could beat her even when she was at her best after the way she betrayed me.

"You barely ate anything, an orange and plain tea is nothing." I drawled, watching her carefully.

"You seem to be repeating yourself often these days, Malfoy." 

"I saw you throw out that muffin and I let it slide." I scoffed, tired of pissing around the bush. 

Her eyes widened, but she didnt look away; Instead she stood her ground. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about." 

"Bullshit."

"Why do you even care?" she sneered, trying to distract me from her slip up.

I shook my head, "I don't."

She bit her lip, avoiding my gaze as I noticed that her hands were balled up into tiny fists across her chest. 

"Hands," I demanded, reaching for them. She pouted slightly, but hesitantly held them out for me to see.

They looked similar to the way they had just yesterday, although it already felt like a whole week ago. 

The same red crecents formed a line down the inside of her palm, but this time they had a deep crimson lining around them. It didn't look worse, it just looked like it was more painful. The crimson lining told me that she hadn't reopened the wounds, which was as much as I could hope for. 

"See," she huffed as I nodded and dropped her hands. "Are you going to do this everyday? I'm not a first year you can boss around."

"We made a deal and this is one of the requirments. If you have a problem with that, then by all means put us both out of our misery and suffer the consequences." 

"You're unbelievable." she hissed, squaring her shoulders in an act to right herself.

"Do you think I like looking at your bloody hands everyday?" I sneered as she recoiled away from me. 

Even now, after everything that we have done to each other, I hate seeing her like this. She was my friend once, one of my best friends actually, and as much as I try to forget it, she was a good one. I wouldn't let her fall down this spiral then and I still won't. 

It's not like I could actually go around the school telling people her dark secrets. I had come to the conclusion a long time ago that I would never be able to expose any of her secrets. I just had to give her a reason to take this deal seriously, and if that meant scaring her into it, then I would do it. 

"Screw you, Malfoy." she spat, swiftly bending over to collect her belongings, getting ready to leave. 

She whipped back up, standing with her shoulders back and her eye zeroed in on me. Then she faltered, her face looking as blank as ever, just barely avoiding falling back onto the couch on her bum and stumbling about to keep from crashing to the ground, almost like she was dizzy. 

"Fuck."

***


	6. Chapter 4

Cordelia:

Suddenly as I was standing up from the couch in the common room, book and quill in hand, about to march away, leaving Draco in my wake, a wave of golden hexagons clouded my vision, making my ears ring. I stumbled, almost falling back down onto the couch, but managed to reach both of my arms out, dropping the items in my hands in the process, as cold hands grabbed my forearms, slipping under my arms to hold onto my back and pulled me back up to my previous standing position. 

I remained in my blank unaware state for a few seconds, before Draco shook my shoulders trying to get my attention. 

"Cordelia-" 

"Huh?" I breathed, trying to remember the last time I had gotten this dizzy. It happened often when I didn't eat, but it was never bad enough to make me almost pass out like that. 

"What the hell just happened?" he hissed, his platinum hair falling into his eyes as he leaned down to my level, still holding me up.

"Nothing, I'm just dizzy." I quipped, all too aware of his hot breath on the side of my face.

He shook his head scowling, the tips of his strands brushing across my forehead, "This is exactly why you need to be taking our deal seriously." 

"I'm fine." I snapped, staring into his silver eyes.

"No, you're clearly not." he sneered.

I was having a hard time thinking about much else besides the fact that we were standing so close to each other, that I could count his light eyelashes, as he tightened his grip on me again, making me realize that I had indeed been so caught up in my own little world, that I hadn't even noticed that I was falling again. 

I was speechless at my own stupidity for a moment, well that and the heady feeling that was taking over all of my senses. 

"You have got to stop being so careless."

"I am not careless." 

He sighed, still so close to me, "Yes, you are."

We continued to stare into each other's eyes, his blazing with that annoying calculating expression again, and mine I'm sure were about as blank as his face usually was. My fallen quill and book were momentarily forgotten, as were the rest of our surroundings. I didn't even remeber if we were alone in the coomon room or not. I deduced that the strong scent of his cologne was making me feel oddly heady as I inhaled. It was actually a nice one, which was sadly wasted on the likes of Malfoy. 

"That's it." he said coldly, releasing me from his stronghold, making a move towards the stairs up to the dorms. "You've got to eat something, I'll go and get something from Goyle's stash." 

I felt my cheeks blaze with anger for the millionth time since the school year had started, only yesterday, "No, I'll go find Daph. She's been stockpiling muffins." 

At this point, I was desperate to get out of giving Draco the satisfaction of eating around him, given our deal and the stupid fact that we had to sit with our houses at meals rendering me a helpless victim to his smug demeanor. Besides, I liked my friends and my house, I shouldn't have to flee to another table just to eat in peace.

He fixed me with his intense gaze, turning back towards me, "You don't have the best track record with muffins, Maxime." 

"Daph will make sure that I eat." I sighed, pretending to be inspecting my nails as I listened to the seemingly never ending crackling of the fire to distract myself from the sticky situation I had stumbled into. 

"You should go to Madam Pomfrey." he drawled matter of factly, back to his usual blank expression. 

"I'll go in the morning, it's late." I yawned, reaching down to pick up my belongings.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him sqaure his jaw as if to keep himself from saying something without thinking it through, "Fine, if you fall on your way up to bed, that's your own fault." 

Did he really think it was that easy to beat this thing?

"I didn't ask for any of this, Malfoy." I sneered, narrowing my eyes at him. He did the same, leaning against the banister of the staircase that led up to the two adjacent doors to the shared dormitories. 

He rolled his eyes, dismissing my comment, "If I don't hear from Daphne that you've eaten, then you know where I'll go."

"Zabini," I muttered, flexing my own jaw. 

He nodded, a smug smirk making its way across his lips, "And this time, I won't be giving any second chances." 

"I figured as much." I shot back, intent on finding some way out of this stupid deal. This was getting old real fast. 

"Go to bed, Maxime." he drawled, looking as uninterested as ever.

"So, you can have the room to yourself? No thanks." I mumbled, scuffing my slippers together, feeling the goosebumps slowly spread over my exposed arms.

Why did they have to make the Slytherins live in the dungeons? If anything, we should be the ones in the tower. 

"I won't repeat myself. Go upstairs and hold up your end of the deal unless you want to deal with Zabini on your arse too." he growled, finally awknowledging my come back. 

"Arsehole, " I muttered as I turned on my heel and made my way up the steps two at a time, eager to get away from him before I succumbed to the strong urge to smack him across his pale narcissistic face. 

**

The warmth of my green sheets welcomed me as I quite literally fell into bed after allowing myself exactly half of one of Daphne's muffins, the darkness esconcing me from the rest of the world. I kept my curtains open, too tired to reach up and untie the ribbon that was holding them in place. 

Just as I shut my eyes, I felt the mattress shift on the other side of me. Hair fell onto my face, making me gag as some of it happened to also fall into my open mouth; Damn my sinus allergies. 

I spat it out, lazily reaching up to swat at the head lying next to mine, which happened to be the owner of the hair that had just triggered my gag reflux, "Daph,"

"I couldn't sleep with Millicent's snoring." she pleaded, settling in under the thick duvet. "Where were you?" 

"Taking care of my Draco problem," I whispered, venom apparent in my short tone. 

"Oh. Well, at least you didn't end up hexing him again." she supplimented, yawning as she did so, shifting the covers away from me as she raised her hand to cover her mouth. A shiver ran down my spine as my toes were instantaneously exposed to the cold air. I yanked the covers back, shaking my head against the pillow it was resting on. 

"Not yet." I said, shutting my eyes for the night, welcoming the thought of another entirely new and fresh day that would hopefully be much better than this one.

**

"Guys, you should hear some of the things they're saying about Umbridge." Pansy exclaimed, happily reaching for a croissant at breakfast the next morning. 

What can I say, the girl loves her gossip.

I groaned and rubbed my eyes, sure that the dark circles that had become a trademark part of my look, would be much darker today.

It turns out that since Daph and I have both gotten taller and are used to sleeping on queen sized beds, our school-issued twin beds just aren't big enough for the two of us. I guess we really aren't 3rd years anymore. 

This completely beautiful new day started with me waking up on the worn carpet next to my bed, wrapped in my sheets like a burrito, Daphne's bare foot hanging off the bed over my head. I was literally awoken by the rancid smell of Daphne's feet. 

To add to that, I had woken up late and had to rush while getting ready in order to make it to breakfast, which usually wouldn't bother me too much, but with this stupid deal with Malfoy, I knew he was going to throw a fit if I didn't show up to breakfast.

And there he was, the object of my anger, sitting down directly across from me. Crabbe and Goyle hummed a greeting to him, and I smirked knowing that I had roped Blaise and Nott into sitting next to me while Daphne sat on my other side as usual, with Pansy next her. Long story short; Draco was left all alone with Crabbe and Goyle, completely separated from the rest of us. 

Now, Crabbe and Goyle, as stubborn, quite frankly pea-brained, and food-crazed as they are, they were actually very sweet and surprisingly hilarious. They happened to be the only two people, besides Nott of course, who didn't expect much from me, so naturally I enjoyed their company. Plus, in 3rd year when I was bored they would let me play exploding snaps with them and Pucey in the common room which always proved to be fun with their constant bickering, and soon it became a regular thing for us to pass the time with. 

That reminded me how I owed them for letting me into their dorm last year, so that I could put itching powder on every piece of clothing in Malfoy's trunk. Now that was hysterical. 

Okay, so maybe they had only looked the other way when Nott had made sure Blaise and Malfoy would be occupied and opened the door for me, but still- I knew it would get them into big trouble with that pompous git if he ever found out. 

Nonetheless, Malfoy always got bored around them and usually turned to the rest of us for entertainment, so I was hopeful that this might put his own morning off to as great of a start as mine was.

I also needed Blaise to be with me as much as possible just as a simple security measure, and it couldn't hurt to keep Malfoy's best friend from him.

"Why don't we just see for ourselves in class, what good is it to gossip?" Daph said uncertainly. "She is our teacher and she's from the ministry after all." 

Well, that's a new development.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Blaise muttered, pouring fragrant syrup over his pancakes- more like drowning them in it. The sight made my stomach churn, so instinctively I wrinkled my nose and turned away. 

"Enjoying your breakfast, Maxime?" I heard a cold voice drawl from across the table.

I turned, leaving the conversation with Blaise and Nott that I had been listening in on, to see Malfoy's silver orbs boring into mine. He eyed the plate in front of me, filled with a good amount of melon and the full teacup to my right. 

"It was great, until you opened your big mouth." I snapped, spearing a chunk of cantaloupe and shoving it into my mouth. I gave him a tight smirk as his eyes flashed with pride, and the hot fiery anger began to well up in my chest. 

"Blaise, " I quipped, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned to me, looking a bit stunned, his fork mid-air. "Would you be interested in joining me, Crabbe and Goyle, and Pucey for exploding snaps in the common room tonight?" 

He laughed his familiar booming laugh, his trademark smile shining, "You four and your three hour bickering matches over the scores get me every time. Unfortunately, I can't referee tonight. Malfoy and I have plans." He nodded towards Malfoy across from us, and I scowled. 

Fuck, Malfoy knew what I was up to. . .

"What could you two possibly be doing?" I jeered, taking another bite of melon. 

"We have some business to take care of." Malfoy drawled, raising his pale eyebrows. 

I leveled him with an incredulous glare, "And I care why?" 

This only made him square his broad shoulders, taking a bite of toast, chewing slowly while he glared at me intently. 

"Just something for Quidditch." he said, still glaring, then his somewhat blank expression turned into a boyish smirk, "Don't get your panties in a twist, Maxime."

I heard someone sqeak next to me and turned to see Daphne tapping my shoulder impatiently. I glanced at her knowingly as if to say 'Get on with it?'.

"Are you and Granger going to the library again today? I still haven't started the essay Snape assigned and I thought maybe we could work on it together," she asked, eyes flitting towards the Gryffindor table on the other side of the Hall. 

"That's what you were dying to ask me?" I laughed, patting Daphne's shoulder. 

"Yes," she pouted. 

Oh, she knew damn well that she was in trouble.

"Yes, we're going and yes, I've already finished my essay." I started, cutting her off when I saw her face light up, "But, I don't know if I'd be in the mood to study with the girl who had the audicty to push me off my own bed last night!" 

"I didn't mean to!" she exclaimed, her cheeks blazing. 

"I woke up on the bloody floor, Daph! Do you know how flithy that thing is?" I snapped, now completely facing Daphne, tuning out all of the white noise around us. 

"I was tired too and you kept pulling the covers off of me." she boomed, waving her arms around in the air.

"Here's a thought, sleep in your own bed next time!" 

"Fine." she shrugged, folding her arms across her chest defensively. 

A warm hand wrapped around my shoulder, turning me towards its owner. 

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?" Blaise sighed, looking down at me from his tall frame. 

"I woke up with her foot in my face, Blaise! Her smelly foot." I whined, watching as his worried face shifted and a slight smirk took over his features. 

Chuckling, he shook his brown curls, "You two are insane." 

Did he have to be such a mother hen?

"No we aren-"

"Wait a minute." Daphne cut me off, raising her hand up, so that her palm was facing both Blaise and I. "Where's Millicent?" 

"What?" Zabini retorted.

"Holy shit." I said, surveying the crowd for her round curl covered head. Big surprise, I couldn't find it anywhere. "She's not here."

"She must be back in the dormitory. Pans, do you remember Millicent taking her potion last night?" 

"No." Pansy exclaimed, a frown tugging at her lips as we all exchanged the same deeply peeved look. "She didn't complain about it at all, either."

"Let me guess, we all didn't get so much as a peep?" I scoffed, as the two of them instantly shook their heads as if they were so heavy, that it was hard to keep them from slumping down. 

"Okay seriously, what the hell are you all talking about?" Zabini muttered, obviously annoyed that he had been ignored and left out of the conversation. He was sounding more and more like Pansy everyday; We were all pissed enough with just the one gossipmonger, I don't know how we would cope with two.

As all of our heads abruptly broke off from our mini staring contest as the revelation dawned on us, and turned to Blaise, I leveled him with a hard glare and continued with my explanation, "Millicent snores, Zabini." I sighed, noting that I had caught Malfoy's attention in the suspense of our conversation. "And she's supposed to be taking Dreamless Sleep potion daily, sent to her by her mother, but she seldom does, since she finds it to be bitter tasting, thus ensuring that none of us get any sleep with her incessant snoring."

"Millicent snores?" Zabini chuckled, seemingly unfazed.

"Oh Merlin, does she snore." Daphne groaned, shaking her head, bringing her blonde mane with it.

"You think this is funny, Zabini?" I snorted. "I swear Bulstrode has it coming."

A memory from Potions class yesterday flashed back into my mind, and I turned to Malfoy before Zabini could even open his mouth to reply. 

His eyes met mine with their usual hostility, beckoning the red hot anger that swirled in my chest whenever he was around.

"Say Malfoy," I enquired, smirking. "Do you still have our flask from Potions class yesterday?"

He raised a cocky eyebrow, a devilish grin making its merry way to his face, "Why yes I do." 

"Excellent." I exclaimed, shoveling the last piece of melon into my mouth, before grabbing my bag and launching towards Malfoy, grabbing his arm and dragging him along with me until we reached the corridor just outside of the Great Hall. 

And yes, I was aware of all of the stares, sighs and "oohs" were getting not just from our friends, but the whole Hall. I guess people were afraid we were going to hex each other again- not yet.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked, raising my own eyebrows suggestively. 

I loved playing tricks on people, and I happened to know from personal experience that Malfoy did, too. And since we supposedly made such a good team, then perhaps he could do me one favor if not for the overall mood of our group, but because sleep was vital to my eating habits and he loved toying with those.

"Why would I help you?" he drawled.

"Because," I cleared my throat, eyeing him intently. "I thought we made a good team."

"We do, don't we?" he smirked.

At this I scoffed, not used to the idea of this so called alliance, and still every skeptical of it, "Will you help me, then?"

"Do what?" he asked faux innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me, Malfoy." I laughed, rolling my eyes. "We're going to get back at Millicent."

"We? Why would I help you?" he jeered, repeating his previous question for the third time in the last two minutes.

"Because, someone has made a deal, and you see it was very hard to get to breakfast this morning, because of Millicent's selfish vendetta against my sleep schedule, and we wouldn't want me skipping any meals, would we?" I asked coyly, looking up at his tall frame from under my eyelashes.

He snorted looking unsatisfied with my attempt at blackmail, running a hand through his hair. "No, I suppose we wouldn't." 

I was pretty surprised that he had caved so easily, but after all we did make a good team and no matter how much I hated his guts, I needed his stupid help. Besides, I have more important things to worry about than Malfoy's weird behavior. 

"Wonderful," I said, trying to keep the excitement for my plan for our upcoming revenge out of my voice. 

"So, what exactly do you have in mind?" Malfoy mused, motioning towards the steps down to the dungeons as we began to walk, more like saunter, down the hall. This only made my smirk grow even wider, in turn making his silver eyes sparkle with that familiar before prank mischief.

**

Later that day, after Malfoy and I had already worked out the kinks in our plan, I was walking into the Library to meet Hermoine and find a book that I could use to help me with this god for saken essay Snape had already assigned us.

I had to walk all the way into the back, before I found Hermoine and Harry sitting at a table enclosed between two dark-wood floor to ceiling booksholves overflowing with cold looking leather bound texts.

They both looked up at me, smiling widely as I made my way to them, the sound of my foot steps giving away my arrival.

Hermione was first to greet me as always, "Core!" she squealed, standing up to give me the second bone crushing hug of the year.

"Granger," I breathed, seeing Harry smirking at us from my view over Mione's shoulder. "If you keep doing this, you're going to flatten me into a pancake, and they are my least favorite breakfast food." 

Now, Harry was full on chuckling at us from behind Mione, as I shot him a short glare. 

"Oh right." she said, releasing me from her death grip. 

"What has you being so affectionate these days, Mione?" I enquired. It wasn't like I minded it, which I didn't, but we usually made a point of keeping our friendship not quite so public. 

Although, most people in our year at least, thought we were civil acquaintances, just not that we were friends. I guess we made it obvious enough, but they couldn't fathom the idea of the golden trio being friends with a Slytherin. How dramatic.

"I just missed you is all." she shrugged, sitting back down next to Harry, and shoving the book open in front of her into her bag. I raised my eyebrows at her much too short for her explanation, but decied to save that for later- we had more important things to discuss. 

"Get over here, Potter." I demanded jokingly, arms outstreched, as he stood from his place at the table. 

He wrapped his arms around me enerestly, nothing like the fight or flight response Mione had just taken. "I missed you too, De." 

"Oh, you're in so much trouble, Harold." I smirked, resting my head on his shoulder. 

Now, I know what you're thinking, was one of my best friends, in the most platonic way that there is. He was like a brother to me, as much as Will, Leo, Eddie and Luke were. Don't try to make it something that it's not. Malfoy and all of the other Slytherins had already used that one up to the fullest of it's extent. 

When I say this, I mean it in the most respectful way possible, if I'm even capable of that, Harry is quite the trouble maker, always has been, and always will be. It's part of what goes along with his bravery, and the recklessness that causes him to act on that bravery. 

I just happened to be the only other organized person, besides Mione of course, in his life to clean up his and Ron's messes- don't even get me started on that. It was a tedious and mundane task, that I often times pondered why I bothered with, but Harry was one of the only friends of mine who didn't care about my past, a rarity in the social heiarchy this school. And he was also one of the first friends I'd made at Hogwarts back in 3rd year. 

Plus, this 15-year-old was pretty much the wizarding world's only hope against whatever Voldemort and his goons had up his filthy black sleeve, so you might as well take his side anyways, if not just for survival. 

He looked at me, knitting his dark brows together and went to sit on the top of the table next to Mione's head, who now sat scribbling something onto a unsuspecting piece of blank parchment. I took the seat on the other side of her, crossing my legs before I looked back up at Harry.

"Harold Potter, you got expelled!" I whisper yelled, shaking my head slowly, before a thought came into mind. "Mione, what do you have to say about this madness?"

I was well aware of how similar to a howler I sounded, and honestly I would've sent him one, if I hadn't been so busy over the summer gallavanting all over my hometown with Daphne, Will, Luke, Serena and Leo in tow. 

And if that thing with Eddie hadn't happened, but I wasn't ready to open that can of rotten worms yet, after I had worked so hard to swallow it down. 

"I can't believe him, he performed a Patronus charm in front of his cousin!" she quipped, narrowing her hazel eyes at Harry as pure disappointment and worry crumpled her expression. Mione always worried too much, even more than I did.

Wait, hold up- he did what now?

"You performed a Patronus charm in front of a muggle?!" I exclaimed, a proud smile tugging at the corners of my lips. 

"Yeah," he muttered as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment, looking down as Mione leveled him with her best withering stare, fully snapping out of her short reverie.

Although it was careless and quite frankly selfish to be doing magic in front of non squib muggles, especially underage magic, Harry's cousin is a total pig literally, and I applaud Harry for finally kicking his arse. He gets brownie points for that, too.

"Good one, Potter!" I cried, throwing up my hand for a high five. He returned it and as our hands slapped together, Hermoine looked at us with disgust evident on her features, making the two of us laugh. 

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" I heard her mumble, as she returned to her parchment. 

Just then, the librarian stomped over and shushed us, throwing balled up pieces of parchment at Harry and Hermione. 

Once she was gone, Harry opened his mouth and then closed it promptly, So," he deflected, hitting that awkward notch in his voice, he always did when he found out that I did something he didn't approve of. "I heard about what you said to Neville." 

I sighed, rolling my eyes as he hit the exact nerve I had been purposefully avoiding. Damn Longbottom for snitching on me. But, it was Longbottom, what did I expect? As long as he didn't make me apologize, I was good.

"I have a reputation to keep up, Potter. You know, the thing you've let go to shit." I snapped. He visibly flinched, so I stopped with my explanation and let him talk.

"But, c'mon, it's Neville. Now he's complaining about it all the time," he said, shooting me an exasperated look that didn't meet his eyes.

"It's true, you know." Hermione quipped, never taking her eyes off of the parchment she was studying fiercly. 

"Alright look, I am not teaming up with Malfoy. Calm down."

That was about the best they were going to get out of me right now. 

"You sure? You didn't look-" 

"Oh shush, would you? You know I hate him just as much as you do." I shot back, looking out the big blurry window behind them, scuffing my shoes together under the table. 

What they didn't know about Malfoy and I's plan to get back at Millicent wouldn't hurt them. They don't even like her anyways. 

They both shrugged as if to signify that they were also ready to drop the topic, so I changed the subject to their summers and let that take it's course on the conversation as the comforting pitter-patter of rain sounded in from the rooftop of the castle above us and I watched the dropplets bounce off one another through the window, trying not to let my eyes involuntarily shut on me. 

The conversations I was still avoiding, very much so fresh on my mind, threatened to bubble up with every second they stayed unsaid, hidden behind the wall I was currently expending all of my energy to keep up. 

***


End file.
